Same version of perl results: Benchmark: timing 1000000 iterations of Grep, Max, Ternary... Grep: 5 wallclock secs ( 4.83 usr + 0.00 sys = 4.83 CPU) Max: 7 wallclock secs ( 6.77 usr + 0.01 sys = 6.78 CPU) Ternary: 7 wallclock secs ( 6.90 usr + 0.00 sys = 6.90 CPU)