#!/usr/bin/perl

$x = 24;
&crap();
print "MAIN: x is $x\n";
   # here x is 24, because the
   # $x in crap() has it's own scope.


sub crap() {
    my $x;

    print "CRAP: x is $x\n";
       # here x is "" because
       # it's uninitialized.

    $x = 35;
}