use YAPE::Regex::Explain; print YAPE::Regex::Explain->new("A\\B")->explain; __END__ The regular expression: (?-imsx:A\B) matches as follows: NODE EXPLANATION ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (?-imsx: group, but do not capture (case-sensitive) (with ^ and $ matching normally) (with . not matching \n) (matching whitespace and # normally): ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A 'A' ---------------------------------------------------------------------- \B the boundary between two word chars (\w) or two non-word chars (\W) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ) end of grouping ----------------------------------------------------------------------