Determining the type of an obkect in plperl

Probably a bit off topic, but I suspect someone on this list knows how to do
this.

I am in the process of writing a plperl function. In this function I need
to compare the data in the NEW versus OLD structures. I am writing this as a
generic subroutine, so I am looping through and comparing the 2 to see what
is different. Problem is, that I need to know whether to us n != or a ne
comparison.

how can I determine what the data type of the value element is?


-- 
"They that would give up essential liberty for temporary safety deserve
neither liberty nor safety."
                        -- Benjamin Franklin