I like to use the following:

use Tie::Cycle;

tie my $spinner, 'Tie::Cycle', ["\r-","\r\\","\r|","\r//"];
my $spin_every=10;
while (<>) {
  print $spinner unless $. % $spin_every;
  # yada-yada-yada
}
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The result is a spinning line. Excellent for indicating the program is still alive. The use of mod prevents the output fom happening so often that printing slows the script down noticibly.

Yves / DeMerphq
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Writing a good benchmark isnt as easy as it might look.