use Devel::Peek qw(Dump); $_ = "\x00" x 26; print Dump($_); $_ = "\x30" x 26; print Dump($_); __END__ SV = PV(0x1800884) at 0x1800514 REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (POK,pPOK) PV = 0x3015e0 "\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0"\0 CUR = 26 LEN = 27 SV = PV(0x1800884) at 0x1800514 REFCNT = 1 FLAGS = (POK,pPOK) PV = 0x3015e0 "00000000000000000000000000"\0 CUR = 26 LEN = 27