#!usr/bin/perl
use strict;
use warnings;

my @var= ('now 	is the time',				#space, tab between "now" and "is"
	      '        for all good men',			#leading tab, no space
	      'to come to the aid of their 	party.'		#space, tab before party
	);


#hbm's method:

my $count = 0;
my $linecount = 0;
for my $var(@var) {
	$linecount = $var =~ tr/ \t/ \t/;
	print "\$linecount: $linecount\n";
	$count += $linecount;
}
print "$count \n";

#hbm's method with \t (tr doesn't know from "\s"

my $count_s = 0;
my $linecount_s = 0;
for my $var(@var) {
	$linecount_s = $var =~ tr/\t/|\t/;
	print "\$linecount_s: $linecount_s\n";
	$count_s += $linecount_s;
}
print "$count_s \n";

=head OUTPUT
$linecount: 4
$linecount: 4
$linecount: 8
16             # WTF? with tabs converted to spaces, I count 17 as I have my tabs set.
$linecount_s: 1
$linecount_s: 1
$linecount_s: 1
3



=cut

##</code><code>##

# and now using \s & /g 				# output smells bad

print "and now using \\s only, with /g modifier\n";
my $count_s = 0; 
my $linecount_s = 0;
for my $var(@var) {
	$linecount_s = scalar ( $var =~ s/\s/_/g  );
	print "\$linecount_s: $linecount_s, \$var after substitution: $var\n";
	$count_s += $linecount_s;
}
print "\$count_s: $count_s \n\n";

##</code><code>##

and now using \s only, with /g modifier
$linecount_s: 3, $var after substitution: now_|is_the_time
$linecount_s: 3, $var after substitution: |for_all_good_men
$linecount_s: 7, $var after substitution: to_come_to_the_aid_of_their_|party.
$count_s: 13