Is the (\d+) inside the second if $1 or $2?.

its a different regular expression, its a different m//atch operation

capture groups are numbered per match operation

so all these 4 match operations overwrite $1 /(.)/; $foo=~ /(.)/; $bar=~ /(.)/; $baz=~ /(.)/;

As do these $one = qr/(.)/ ; m{$one}; $foo=~ m{$one}; $bar =~ m{$one}; $baz =~ m{$one};

perlvar#$<_digits_> ($1, $2, ...) , perlrequick, perlretut