If you had put $|++ into the search box (or using super search like ?node_id=3989;HIT=%24%7C%2B%2B;re=N) you would have found: what does $|++ do here?, What the heck does $|++; do?, Perl Idioms Explained - $|++, $|++ Does What, Exactly? (was: $++ Does What, Exactly?)