use Benchmark qw( cmpthese ); print $], "\n"; open my $W, '<', '/usr/share/dict/words' or die; my @words = <$W>; close $W; my $s = '(? sub { grep /(? sub { grep /$re/, @words }, qro => sub { grep /$re/o, @words }, s => sub { grep /$s/, @words }, so => sub { grep /$s/o, @words }, }); __END__ 5.026001 Rate qr s qro so re qr 7.14/s -- -57% -67% -68% -69% s 16.8/s 135% -- -22% -26% -26% qro 21.4/s 200% 28% -- -5% -6% so 22.5/s 215% 34% 5% -- -1% re 22.7/s 218% 36% 6% 1% --