function! Perl()
" autoindent
    set autoindent
    set smartindent

" 4 space tabs
    set tabstop=4
    set shiftwidth=4
    set expandtab
    set softtabstop=4

" show matching brackets
    set showmatch

" show line numbers
    set number

" check perl code with :make
    set makeprg=perl\ -c\ %\ $*
    set errorformat=%f:%l:%m
    set autowrite
endfunction

" Call Perl() when you open a Perl file
autocmd FileType perl call Perl()