sub xxx you should not have a carriage-return (\n) here {} xxx you should not have a carriage-return (\n) here ($xxx); xxx( $xxx) you should not have a space here $xxx ++ you should not have a space here my($_xxx, $_yyy) you should have a space here xxx ($xxx) you should not have a space here 'foo'.'bar' you should have a space here if ($xxx) { missing ";" xxx() } if ($xxx) { unneeded ";" xxx(); };