use Benchmark qw( cmpthese ); our $KEY="df"; { local $/; open my $hosts,'/etc/hosts'; $_= <$hosts>; close $hosts; } $_= $_ x (0.5*1024*1024 / length $_); s/$KEY/XX/g; $_.= "\n df "; print length $_,"\n"; cmpthese(-3, { caret => '/^ \s* $KEY /mx', cr => '/\n \s* $KEY /mx', });