for( 30, 300, 3000, 30000 ) { $s = 'x'x$_ . 'reg exp' . 'x'x$_; cmpthese -1, { REGEX => q[ $x = $s =~ /reg exp/;], INDEX => q[ $x = index $s, 'reg exp';] }; };; Rate INDEX REGEX INDEX 1956298/s -- -19% REGEX 2425347/s 24% -- Rate INDEX REGEX INDEX 340657/s -- -65% REGEX 973582/s 186% -- Rate INDEX REGEX INDEX 40348/s -- -74% REGEX 155495/s 285% -- Rate INDEX REGEX INDEX 3530/s -- -77% REGEX 15077/s 327% -- #### for( 30, 300, 3000, 30000 ) { $s = 'x'x$_ . 'reg exp' . 'x'x$_; study $s; cmpthese -1, { REGEX => q[ $x = $s =~ /reg exp/;], INDEX => q[$x = index $s, 'reg exp';] } };; Rate REGEX INDEX REGEX 2101154/s -- -28% INDEX 2912801/s 39% -- Rate REGEX INDEX REGEX 829929/s -- -32% INDEX 1224656/s 48% -- Rate REGEX INDEX REGEX 100781/s -- -38% INDEX 161881/s 61% -- Rate REGEX INDEX REGEX 10983/s -- -26% INDEX 14792/s 35% --