$ perl -Mre=debug -wE 'my $s = "foo bar"; $s =~ /bar/;' Compiling REx "bar" Final program: 1: EXACT (3) 3: END (0) anchored "bar" at 0 (checking anchored isall) minlen 3 Guessing start of match in sv for REx "bar" against "foo bar" Found anchored substr "bar" at offset 4... Starting position does not contradict /^/m... Guessed: match at offset 4 Freeing REx: "bar" $ perl -Mre=debug -wE 'my $s = "foo bar"; $s =~ /(bar)/;' Compiling REx "(bar)" Final program: 1: OPEN1 (3) 3: EXACT (5) 5: CLOSE1 (7) 7: END (0) anchored "bar" at 0 (checking anchored) minlen 3 Guessing start of match in sv for REx "(bar)" against "foo bar" Found anchored substr "bar" at offset 4... Starting position does not contradict /^/m... Guessed: match at offset 4 Matching REx "(bar)" against "bar" 4 | 1:OPEN1(3) 4 | 3:EXACT (5) 7 <> | 5:CLOSE1(7) 7 <> | 7:END(0) Match successful! Freeing REx: "(bar)" $