=over =item readline EXPR Reads from the filehandle whose typeglob is contained in EXPR. In scalar context, a single line is read and returned. In list context, reads until end-of-file is reached and returns a list of lines (however you've defined lines with C<$/> or C<$INPUT_RECORD_SEPARATOR>). This is the internal function implementing the CEXPRE> operator, but you can use it directly. The CEXPRE> operator is discussed in more detail in L. $line = ; $line = readline(*STDIN); # same thing =back