my ($a) = "the|sneaky|camel||";
     my (@b, $nil);

     # Try different parameters with split and report
     for my $p (undef, -1)
     {
          @b = split (/\|/, $a, $p);
          ($nil) = pop (@b);
          print "split() with '$p': '$nil' should be empty, ",
           (length($nil)?" but isn't":"and is"),".\n";
     }