$str = "Ab stuff Cd stuff Ef stuff"; # case 1 @ary1 = $str =~ m/(stuff)/g ; # case 2 @ary2 = $str =~ m/(?:stuff)/g ; # case 3 @ary3 = $str =~ m/stuff/g ; print "\@ary1 = @ary1\n"; print "\@ary2 = @ary2\n"; print "\@ary3 = @ary3\n";