Hi, I am running PERL (v5.8.6) on a  mac os x 10.4.11.I am a complete
newcomer to PERL
I was referring to the book
 "PERL programming for the absolute beginner" by Jerry Lee Ford Jr.
I tried to run this code from the book (code is in green font)
 #! /usr/bin/perl -w
#
# JokeMachine.pl

clear_the_screen();

$reply = " "
while ($reply ne 'yes')  {
print 'Would you like to hear a joke? (yes/no):   ' ;
chomp($reply = <STDIN> );
 if($reply ne 'yes') {
print "\n Hum.......Perhaps you misunderstood \n\n";
    }
}
clear_the_screen();

print "\n What disappears the moment you say it's name? \n\n";
chomp($reply = <STDIN> );
if (reply ne 'silence') {
print "\n Sorry.  Wrong Answer\n";
} else {
print "\n Yes that is the right answer\n\n";
}
*and got the following error (Note: pe was on a line above rl JokeM.....)*