Is there an idiom (besides using temp variables) for doing substitution without modifying the original string's value?

print s/foo/bar/g; will print the number of changes made to $_, and $_ will be permanently modified. I'd prefer a construct that returned the modified string, which you could optionally feed back into the original variable.

Does this already exist and I just don't know about it? Or am I doomed to use temp variables for all eternity?

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A fair fight is a sign of poor planning.

In reply to Non-destructive string substitution by Sprad

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