Problem scenario: You are running a Perl program and getting an error "syntax error at cool.pl line x, near ...
Global symbol "$foo" requires explicit package name at cool.pl line x..."
Solution: Find line x - 1, that is, the line before x. This line may not have a semicolon. Semicolons are not needed if the Perl script is one line. Semicolons are not needed for "sub main" declaration lines with a line with just a brace (either "{" or "}"). Perl debugging may not come as easily as Python or Ruby. But Perl has numerous features.
By itself the error 'Global symbol "$foo" requires explicit package name at cool.pl line x...' could be the result of trying to use a variable name that has not been declared. Make sure you have not made a typo in referring to a declared variable.
Here is a sample Perl script that reads in user input and assigns it to a variable named "$foo":
use strict;
use warnings;
sub main
{
print "Please enter a string and press enter: ";
my $foo = <STDIN>;
print "You entered: $contin";
}
main();