$ perl -wle 'print (-2)**2'
    print (...) interpreted as function at -e line 1.
    Useless use of exponentiation (**) in void context at -e line 1.
    -2

##</code><code>##

Also be careful not to follow the
print keyword with a left parenthesis unless you
want the corresponding right parenthesis to termi-
nate the arguments to the print--interpose a "+"
or put parentheses around all the arguments.