Re perl-like for loops you should check perlsyn. However, briefly, they're

for (@list) { do_something }
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or

for my $item (@list) { do_something }
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Now it seems to me others already answered most of your other questions. Only thing to add: "OP" stands for either "Original Poster" or "Original Post", depending on the context. Well, that's how I have always understood it...