Q: What is the difference between the following two lines of Perl code?

if(($now[2] == 23)&&($now[1] == 55)){
if(($now[1] == 23)&&($now[2] == 55)){

A: $250,000.

Today, I felt like the careless engineer featured on the old PBS show "Square1," a math-related educational show I watched as a kid. The animated engineer quickly sketched a bridge on some blueprints, but this engineer was careless. The next scene in the cartoon showed a bridge collapsing. Death and carnage ensued.

A while ago I modified one of my computer programs -- to make it more reliable. I swapped the "1" and the "2" by accident, and the result was a $1/4 Million loss over the course of ten hours for my employer. No death or carnage, thank goodness. But your electric cooperative rebate check might be missing a penny.

Reflecting on this unfortunate incident, I see it as a mixed blessing. The incident itself is in no way good. I messed up. A small mistake under these specific circumstances resulted in what I consider a big loss. On the other hand, it is satisfying to realize the level of trust my employer places in my work. I will certainly try not to let them down. They seemed less bothered by the error than I did.

But still.... a quarter million dollars!? Oops. Now I am scared to touch my keyboard.