Perl Vim Variable highlighting

vawa.vim

" Drop this into .vim/plugin.vawa.vim
" if you already have vawa.vim, rename appropriately
" automatically highlights variables under cursor, allowing you to easily see the data flow.

" Vawa Plugin for VIM > 7.3 version 1.00
" Maintainer: Sandeep.c.r<[email protected]>
" Hacked for Perl by Curtis "Ovid" Poe <[email protected]>

function! s:vawa()
    call clearmatches()
    let s:temp          = getpos('.')
    let s:current_col   = s:temp[2]
    let s:current_line  = s:temp[1]
    let s:temp          = searchpos('[>$@%*&]','bcn')
    let s:sigil_line    = s:temp[0]
    let s:sigil_col     = s:temp[1]
    if(s:sigil_line != s:current_line)
        return
    endif
    let s:temp = getbufline(bufnr('%'),line('.'))
    let s:varend = match(s:temp[0], '[^a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]\|\n', s:sigil_col)+1
    let s:space_col = s:varend
    if((s:space_col > s:sigil_col) && ( s:space_col< s:current_col))
        return
    endif
    if(s:varend == 0)
        let s:varend = strlen(s:temp[0])+1
    endif
    let s:current_char = s:temp[0][s:current_col-1]
    if(s:current_char == '>' || s:current_char == '-')
        return
    endif
    if(exists("g:vawahl"))
        exe "highlight VarHl  " . g:vawahl
    else
        highlight VarHl  ctermbg=black ctermfg=red guifg=#ff0000 guibg=#000000 ctermfg=LightRed gui=bold
    endif
    let s:str = strpart(s:temp[0], s:sigil_col-1,(s:varend - s:sigil_col))
    let s:prefix = ''
    if(exists("g:vawanohlcurrent") && (g:vawanohlcurrent == 1))
        let s:lineab = s:current_line - 1
        let s:linebe = s:current_line + 1
        let s:colbf  = s:sigil_col + 1
        let s:prefix = '\(\%>'.s:lineab.'l.\%<'.s:linebe.'l.\%>'.s:colbf.'c\)\@!'
    endif
    if(s:str == '$')
        return
    endif
    if(strpart(s:str,0,1) == '>')
        let s:str = strpart(s:str ,1)
        call matchadd('VarHl', s:prefix.'>\@<='. s:str.'\n\{-\}\(\([^a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]\)\|$\)\@=')
    else
        call matchadd('VarHl', s:prefix.s:str.'\n\{-\}\(\([^a-zA-Z0-9_\x7f-\xff]\)\|$\)\@=')
    endif
endfunction
if(!exists("g:vawanoauto") || (g:vawanoauto == 1))
    augroup HighlightVar
            autocmd!
            au CursorMoved  *.pl call <sid>vawa()
            au CursorMovedi *.pl call <sid>vawa()
            au CursorMoved  *.pm call <sid>vawa()
            au CursorMovedi *.pm call <sid>vawa()
            au CursorMoved  *.t  call <sid>vawa()
            au CursorMovedi *.t  call <sid>vawa()
    augroup END
endif

command! Vawa :call <sid>vawa()

A typo in the first line?
" Drop this into .vim/plugin/vawa.vim

@Ovid ...if you were to create a full-blown repo and to drop this file into a plugin/ directory, it'd be directly usable by NeoBundle and the like :)

(well, directly usable without any magic :))