my %op_table = (
    '+' =>  sub { $_[0] +  $_[1] },
    '-' =>  sub { $_[0] -  $_[1] },
    '*' =>  sub { $_[0] *  $_[1] },
    '>' =>  sub { $_[0] >  $_[1] },
    '<' =>  sub { $_[0] <  $_[1] },
    '=' =>  sub { $_[0] == $_[1] }, # this is the one oddball;
                                    # otherwise i could just eval'ed...
    '<=' => sub { $_[0] <= $_[1] },
    '>=' => sub { $_[0] >= $_[1] },
    '!=' => sub { $_[0] != $_[1] },
);