Yep clearly a homework or test question. However from the questions, I think the professor is an idiot.

Q1 - Google it: perl regex

As for Q2...What kind of #$@#$!@# idiot would prototype in perl. As noted above just implement it and you're done. This is a good example of why I don't think school is worth the money you pay for it. With dumb profs teaching you to do stupid things you'd be better off getting a job.