my $d1 = '2019-06-08';
my $d2 = '2019-06-08';
if ($d1 lt $d2) {
    print "\n$d1 is smaller.\n"; 
} elsif ($d2 gt $d1) {
    print "\n$d1 is larger.\n"; 
} else {
    print "\nThe dates are equal!\n"; 
}

##</code><code>##

my $d1 = '2019-06-08';
my $d2 = '2019-06-08';
print $d1 lt $d2 ? "$d1 smaller" :
      $d1 gt $d2 ? "$d1 larger" :
      "Dates are equal";