"I don't care how it's called either, system(), exec(), or backticks."

Actually, yes you do (or should): see the docs for exec, taking special notes of the first paragraph:

"The "exec" function executes a system command *and never returns*; use "system" instead of "exec" if you want it to return. It fails and returns false only if the command does not exist *and* it is executed directly instead of via your system's command shell (see below)."

And the difference between system and backticks? sgifford put it clearly and succinctly ( in Re: system() vs `backtick`, q.v. ) back in 2004, when he said "backticks send the executed program's STDOUT to a variable, and system sends it to your main program's STDOUT."

But, don't quit there; read similarly re system. And re backticks... well you get the idea.