in reply to Determining which pattern matched

Or use Regexp::Assemble.

And if you have many different alternatives to match from, it is probably faster too!

CountZero

A program should be light and agile, its subroutines connected like a string of pearls. The spirit and intent of the program should be retained throughout. There should be neither too little or too much, neither needless loops nor useless variables, neither lack of structure nor overwhelming rigidity." - The Tao of Programming, 4.1 - Geoffrey James