If you are counting characters, you can use tr//. If you are matching strings, you can use s//. Both return the number of substitutions made: 

$count = ($line =~ tr/X/X/);
$count = ($line =~ s/(match1|match2)/$1/g);

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Just make sure you reset the position with the pos function if you are using a string (vs a single character) and you want to find overlapping matches.

HTH

In reply to Re: number of matches by bobf
in thread number of matches by Anonymous Monk

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