#! perl use strict; use warnings; use YAPE::Regex::Explain; my $re = qr/(.)+/; print YAPE::Regex::Explain->new($re)->explain; #### The regular expression: (?-imsx:(.)+) 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): ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ( group and capture to \1 (1 or more times (matching the most amount possible)): ---------------------------------------------------------------------- . any character except \n ---------------------------------------------------------------------- )+ end of \1 (NOTE: because you are using a quantifier on this capture, only the LAST repetition of the captured pattern will be stored in \1) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ) end of grouping ---------------------------------------------------------------------- #### /(\d)(\d)/ # Match two digits, capturing them into $1 and $2 /(\d+)/ # Match one or more digits, capturing them all into $1 /(\d)+/ # Match a digit one or more times, capturing the last into $1