$str = '/a/b/c/d/e/abc00000'; $end = (split '/', $str)[-1]; # pull the last element split() returns print "we wanted '$end'"; #### $"=$,,$_=q>|\p4<6 8p .q>.<4-KI;$, .=pack'N*',"@{[unpack'C*',$_] }"for split/