use Regexp::Common; local $_ = join '',<>; my $code = ''; my $curlies = 1; #one curly open while( m# \G ( [^{}'"/]* ) #xg ){ $code .= $1; my $p = pos; # '' + "" if( m# \G ( $RE{quoted} ) #xg ){ $code .= $1; next; } pos = $p; # /* */ if( m# \G ( $RE{balanced}{-begin=>'/*'}{-end=>'*/'} ) #xg ){ $code .= $1; next; } pos = $p; #// if( m# \G ( // [^\n]* ) #xg ){ $code .= $1; next; } pos = $p; # { if( m# \G \{ #xg ){ $code .= '{'; ++ $curlies; next; } pos = $p; # } if( m# \G \} #xg ){ $code .= '}'; -- $curlies; last unless $curlies; next; } pos = $p; m# \G ( . ) #sxg or last; $code .= $1; } print "CODE\n$code\n";