use Benchmark;

@chars = ('x', ' ');
$string = "";
$string .= $chars[rand 2] for (1..1000);

timethese( 5000, {
            'split' => 'split / /, $string',
            'rand_split' => 'rand_split(" ", $string)'
});

 sub rand_split {
	    my ($sep, $string) = @_;
	    my ($element, $char, $pos, $end, @array);

	    $end = length($string);
	    $element = "";
            for ($pos = 0; $pos < $end; $pos++) {
	        $char = substr($string, $pos, 1);
	        if ($char eq $sep) {
	            push (@array, $element);
	            $element = "";
	        } else {
	            $element = $element . $char;
	        }
	    }
	    push (@array, $element);
	    return (@array);
	}