re: Path::Class - Each to their own :)

However you can take your original full example of this:

  open (my $fh, "<", $config->{file_path})
    or  die "can't open $config->{file_path}: $!";

  my $data;
  {
    local $/ = undef;
    $data = <$fh>;
  }

And turn it into just this with Path::Class

  use Path::Class 'file';
  
  my $data = file( $config->{file_path} )->slurp
  

When dealing with lots of files/directories especially across different platforms I find Path::Class a god send.

NB. One good habit I currently do have is using Path::Class more ubiquitously :)