Re: How aggressively does Perl clean up when you exit()?

[grinder]

You can make sure your database handles are closed down correctly by calling the disconnect method in an END block.

END {
  defined $db and $db->disconnect;
}

There is also a module on CPAN yclept¹ AtExit that I have never used. For all I know, it predates the appearance of END blocks, but it may be worth a look.

1. Chatterbox silliness. yclept is very olde english, meaning "named".

--

g r i n d e r

[Fletch]

END blocks have been around since the dawn of time. They were stolen^Wborrowed from awk.