print substr($String, 0, 10);
[download]

<Update> SteveAZ98 is right: substr will not pad the string to a fixed length, if it is not longer than the desired width...</Update>

Engaging in one of my favorite PM activities, I benchmarked pack vs. substr:

timethese(1000000, {
  pack   => q{ my $String = 'Russ is a stud'; $String = pack("A10", $S
+tring)},
  substr => q{ my $String = 'Russ is a stud'; $String = substr($String
+, 0, 10)}
});
[download]

With these results:

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)
[download]

I just love wasting time with benchmarks, perl golf, etc.

Russ
Brainbench 'Most Valuable Professional' for Perl