You could also undef the separator and match globally ...

Be aware that the code given will globally alter the $/ package variable (see perlvar).

A more 'idiomatic' way to slurp the contents of a file without globally changing  $/ (if you do not use the File::Slurp module or an equivalent) is with the statement

    my $file_contents = do { local $/;  <$file_handle> };
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or

    my $file_contents = do { local $/;  <FILEHANDLE> };
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