\b is a zero-width assertion, so I don't think it matters one way or the other...
/\b($patt)\b/ wont behave any differently than /(\b$patt\b)/, though the first one looks clearer to my eyes.

p.s. When posting code to perlmonks, you should surrond your code with CODE tags.

<CODE>my $perl = 'stuff';</CODE>

-Blake

In reply to Re: regular expression by blakem
in thread regular expression by kiat

Title:
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