use strict; use warnings; my $a=' $text=~s#Find \#Text#Replace Text#; $text=~s/Find \/Text/Replace Text/; $text=~s{Find \}Text}{Replace Text}; '; if ($a =~ / # start \$text=~s # remember to escape the $ to avoid interpolation (.) # capture the '#' (.*?) # match any non-newline character non-greedily (?