In Linux '>' redirect symbol is used to create new file, if the file exists it removes the existing content and creates new file.

Use Three-argument open(), to open a file its safer open my $fh, '>', $filename or die "Can't write to '$filename': $!\n"; Update:

Shorthand Flags:

Entities Definition
< or r Read Only Access
> or w Creates, Writes, and Truncates
>> or a Writes, Appends, and Creates
+< or r+ Reads and Writes
+> or w+ Reads, Writes, Creates, and Truncates
+>> or a+ Reads, Writes, Appends, and Creates