while () { chomp; my ( $letters, $numbers ) = ( /^(\D+)(\d+)$/ ); print "$letters\t$numbers\n"; } __DATA__ art1012387 stuff458353 other432610 #### while () { chomp; if ( /^([a-zA-Z]+)(\d+)$/ ) { my ( $letters, $numbers ) = ( $1, $2 ); print "$letters\t$numbers\n"; } else { print "No match: $_\n"; } }