use strict;

if ($line =~ /TC/g) {
  my $lookfor = "TC";
}
else {
  my $lookfor = "26 ";                
}
print $lookfor;
[download]

I have not seen a simple answer to this question. A simple answer could be,

declare the variable outside the IF statement like this:

use strict;

my $lookfor;

if ($line =~ /TC/g) {
  $lookfor = "TC";
}
else {
  $lookfor = "26 ";                
}
print $lookfor;
[download]

Because he is not seeing the result when he prints the variable because it's scope is inside the IF

In fact, shouldn't he get a compile error when he tries to run this? (unless he already has the same variable somewhere else)