They might be picky, but it's morely likely they misunderstand the meaning of "Useless" in this context. Execution of perl -we "10" returns an error because it does absolutely nothing. In contrast, perl -we "0 || 10" makes a choice. It matters not that the choice is ultimately unnecessary. The constant value is examined in order to make the choice; therefore, it is a useful value. Perl cannot be expected to determine whether or not a programmer makes poor choices. It's like the Oracle: it cannot see past a choice it does not understand.