name1=value1
           name2  = value2

##</code><code>##

    while (<$input>)
    {
      chomp;
      next if /^ \s* #/;
      next if /^ \s* $/;

      if (/^ \s* ([^=\s]+) \s* = \s* (.+) $/x)
      {
        # name is in $1, value is in $2
      }
    }

##</code><code>##

name1=value1
             name2 = value2
name3 = value3
   but wait, there is
 more
name4=
  value4

##</code><code>##

    my $contents = do {local $/; <$input>};
    while ($contents =~ / ANSWER_HERE /msg)
    {
      # name is in $1, value is in $2
    }

##</code><code>##

    my $contents = do {local $/; <$input>};
    my $name = qr/\s* [^=\s]+ \s*/x;
    while ($contents =~ /^ ($name) = \s* (.+) (?= ^ $name = | $ ) /msgx)
    {
      # name is in $1, value is in $2
    }