http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=763691


in reply to Favorite Hacks in Emacs

shell-command-on-region. With a prefix argument it replaces the region with the shell command's output. Great way to run Perl one-liners on whatever you're editing!

Also, align-regexp. Ideal for picky types who want a bunch of assignments to line up on the =. ;)