$count = ($string =~ tr/\n/\n/);

##</code><code>##

# Greedy
$string = q(xxxx); 
$count = ($string =~ s/x*/#/g); 
print qq($string $count), $/;

# Not greedy
$string = q(xxxx); 
$count = ($string =~ s/x*?/#/g); 
print qq($string $count), $/;