print substr($String, 0, 10); #### timethese(1000000, { pack => q{ my $String = 'Russ is a stud'; $String = pack("A10", $String)}, substr => q{ my $String = 'Russ is a stud'; $String = substr($String, 0, 10)} }); #### Benchmark: timing 1000000 iterations of pack, substr... pack: 7 wallclock secs ( 7.20 usr + 0.00 sys = 7.20 CPU) substr: 6 wallclock secs ( 6.67 usr + 0.01 sys = 6.68 CPU)