$ perl -le '
> $path = q{/ab/cd/e};
> $string = q{/ab/cd/e};
> print $string, $string =~ m{^$path.} ? q{ - Match} : q{ - No};
> $string .= q{f};
> print $string, $string =~ m{^$path.} ? q{ - Match} : q{ - No};'
/ab/cd/e - No
/ab/cd/ef - Match
$