use strict;
use warnings;

my @strings = ('', '1', 'a', "a\n");
/^[a]*$/ && print "/^[a]*\$/ matches >$_<\n" for @strings;
/^a*$/ && print "/^a*\$/ matches >$_<\n" for @strings;

##</code><code>##

/^[a]*$/ matches ><
/^[a]*$/ matches >a<
/^[a]*$/ matches >a
<
/^a*$/ matches ><
/^a*$/ matches >a<
/^a*$/ matches >a
<