Flounder,

Thank you for that explaination. So if I am reading it right, then the would following be true?
 
The following functions set the value of the return to 'default' by default. Then if was a parameter passed, $value gets set to that parameter. The differences between the two are:

1. The juxteposition of the shift() statement and 'default'
2. The use of the '||' and 'or' operators

sub setValue_takeOne{
  my $value = shift() || 'default';
  return $value;
}

sub setValue_takeTwo{
  my $value = 'default' or shift();
  return $value;
}
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