This is slightly different code for using File::Slurp

use strict;
use File::Slurp;
my $text = read_file($file);
[download]

And here is a link to ManPage of File::Slurp

http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/45/idpl/17060087/numer/3/nazwa/File::Slurp

And another thorough article on Slurping:

http://search.cpan.org/~drolsky/File-Slurp-9999.13/extras/slurp_article.pod

And remember if you cut and paste sample code from a web page, some of the punctuation characters may not be formatted for your system so if you get an error from cut and pasted code try typing it in directly to your program.

Originally posted as a Categorized Answer.