perl -Mre=debug -e "qr/a .{1,10} \ /x;qr/a .{1,10} [ ]/x;" #### Compiling REx "a .{1,10} \ " Final program: 1: EXACT (3) 3: CURLY {1,10} (6) 5: REG_ANY (0) 6: EXACT < > (8) 8: END (0) anchored "a" at 0 floating " " at 2..11 (checking floating) minlen 3 Compiling REx "a .{1,10} [ ]" Final program: 1: EXACT (3) 3: CURLY {1,10} (6) 5: REG_ANY (0) 6: EXACT < > (8) 8: END (0) #### Rate literal class literal 531978/s -- -1% class 539600/s 1% --