$i = 0;
while ($html =~ m/</g) {
  # if the next character is the letter 's', $i++
  # if the next character is the forward slash '/', $i--
  # if $i = 1, $temp = everything from < to the next >
  # if $i > 1, do action to get rid of nested loop.  
}

##</code><code>##

$i = 0;
while ($html =~ m/</g) {
  if ($_ =~ m/$1s/ {$i++;}
  if ($_ =~ m/$1\//) {$i--;}
  if ($i = 1) {$temp = everything from < to the next > }
  if ($i > 1) {do action to get rid of nested loop}
  }