But all the Perls I have in captivity recognize a syntax error for the line missing the semicolon, although they make no mention of the semicolon itself. 

>perl -le
"use warnings ;
 use strict ;
 print \"This program will display ... when done.\n\"
 my @userin = <STDIN> ;
 printf \"%-20s\", @userin ;
"
syntax error at -e line 1, near ""This program will display ... when d
+one.\n"
                         my "
Global symbol "@userin" requires explicit package name at -e line 1.
Global symbol "@userin" requires explicit package name at -e line 1.
Execution of -e aborted due to compilation errors.

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If my own experience is any guide, what happened is that Parmenides, momentarily unable to interpret the first (and critical) error message, was drawn to concentrate on the subsequent 'error' message unaware that it was entirely an artifact of the preceding error. A very common oversight (again, IME). The lesson: Pay strict attention to the point at which the compiler first stumbles and don't be distracted by the point at which it finally bites the dust.

In reply to Re^3: Another newb question by AnomalousMonk
in thread Another newb question by Parmenides

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