$ perl -MO=Deparse,-p junk (my $type = 'add'); my($redo); ((($type eq 'add') ? ($redo = 'wiki_add2') : $redo) = 'wiki_edit2'); print("With type: $type, we could redo: $redo \n"); junk syntax OK $ perl -MO=Deparse,-p junk | perltidy junk syntax OK ( my $type = 'add' ); my ($redo); ( ( ( $type eq 'add' ) ? ( $redo = 'wiki_add2' ) : $redo ) = 'wiki_edit2' ); print("With type: $type, we could redo: $redo \n");