There's many scripting languages in the world, Perl is a little bit special because it is based more on some ideas from the way natural languages work.

It should be illegal to yell 'Y2K' in a crowded economy.

In general, they do what you want, unless you want consistency.

Are you perchance running on a 64-bit machine?

Even if you aren't in doubt, consider the mental welfare of the person who has to maintain the code after you, and who will probably put parens in the wrong place.

For me, writing is a love-hate relationship.

I think computer science, by and large, is still stuck in the Modern age.