use Inline 'C';

my @ary = ('aa'..'az', 'aj');
my $rc = remove_str( \@ary, 'aj' );
print"$rc\n@ary\n";

__END__
__C__
int
remove_str( SV* av_ref, SV* remove ) {
    AV* terms;
    SV* element;
    I32 num, i;
    STRLEN len;
    int retval = 0;

    terms = (AV *)SvRV(av_ref);
    num = av_len(terms);
    for( i=0; i<=num; i++ ) {
        element = av_shift(terms);
        if( strcmp( SvPV(element,len), SvPV(remove,len) ) )
            av_push(terms, element);
        else retval++;
    }
  return retval;
}