$_=" a b c d e    f g h";
@list=split/\s+/;
print "split /\\s+/ : ";
foreach my $i (0..$#list) {
	printf "%2d '%s', ",$i,$list[$i];
}
print "\n";
@list=split;
print "split       : ";

foreach my $i (0..$#list) {
	printf "%2d '%s', ",$i,$list[$i];
}
print "\n";
__END__
split /\s+/ :  0 '',  1 'a',  2 'b',  3 'c',  4 'd',  5 'e',  6 'f',  7 'g',  8 'h', 
split       :  0 'a',  1 'b',  2 'c',  3 'd',  4 'e',  5 'f',  6 'g',  7 'h',