$sql = "
    create table #foo (variable1	char(20),
		       variable2	char(30)    null)

    /*
	comments make it slow
    */
";


my $comment = qr/(?:\/\*.*?\*\/)/;                           # Simple match of C-style comment
my $sp      = qr/(?:\s*$comment?\s*)*/;                      # This just looks for /* comments */, with whitespace on either side. 
                                                                # Since comments can be anywhere, use this anywhere whitespace is allowed. 
					                        # The parens don't capture, so it won't affect your $1, $2 counts.
my $header  = qr/create${sp}table${sp}\#?\w+${sp}\(${sp}/i;  # "create table foo (", where table name may have a # mark
my $name    = qr/[\#\w]+${sp}/;                              # Variable name, can contain # mark
my $type    = qr/\w+${sp}/;                                  # Variable type (e.g. 'char', 'number') 
my $op_char = qr/(?:\([\d\s,]+\)${sp})?/;                    # Bounds for array types, can be multidimensional (e.g. '(10, 20)', '(30)')
my $words   = qr/(?:[\w]+(?:\([^\)]*\))?[${sp})]*)*/;        # Text after variable type -- may be 'null', 'not null', a 'check' block, etc.
my $subst   = qr/${sp}\{[^\}]+\}${sp}/;                      # Substitution placeholder -- some text in {curlies}
my $decl    = qr/($name $type $op_char $words)/x;            # A complete variable declaration
my $comma   = qr/,${sp}/;                                    # Literal comma, with possible trailing space
my $rest    = qr/\)${sp}/;                                   # Closing the block with a close-paren

if ($sql =~ /
		($header)
		((?: $decl $comma | $subst $comma | $subst)*
		(?: $decl | $subst))
		($rest)
/x) {
	print "Match!\n";
	print "1: >>>$1<<<\n";
	print "2: >>>$2<<<\n";
}