Perl 5.6 offers the @- and @+ arrays. The 'perlvar' documentation. You can use 
$prematch  = substr($string, 0, $-[0]);
$match     = substr($string, $-[0], $+[0] - $-[0]);
$postmatch = substr($string, $+[0]);
$paren_1   = substr($string, $-[1], $+[1] - $-[1]);
# ...

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This may help you in your efforts.

japhy -- Perl and Regex Hacker

In reply to Re: Why is while(m//g){} so much slower than s///eg and what can I do about it? by japhy
in thread Why is while(m//g){} so much slower than s///eg and what can I do about it? by kaatunut

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