in reply to How to download JUST the first X bytes of HTTP response ?

I found this in the docs of LWP::UserAgent:
$ua->max_size( $bytes )
Get/set the size limit for response content. The default is undef, which means that there is no limit. If the returned response content is only partial, because the size limit was exceeded, then a "Client-Aborted" header will be added to the response. The content might end up longer than max_size as we abort once appending a chunk of data makes the length exceed the limit. The "Content-Length" header, if present, will indicate the length of the full content and will normally not be the same as length($res->content).

CountZero

A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James