my ($first) = $string =~ /(["()])/;
<Editor's Note>
From
perlop:
If the `/g' option is not used, `m//' in list context
returns a list consisting of the subexpressions matched by
the parentheses in the pattern,
i.e., (`$1', `$2', `$3'...).
Examples:
if ( ($F1, $F2, $Etc) = ($foo =~ /^(\S+)\s+(\S+)\s*(.*)/) )
So, by parenthesizing the character class containing the
characters you want to find, the regex will return that
character when matched.
The parentheses around the left-hand-side variable (here,
$first) are required, to put the expression in list context.
In scalar context, a regex will only return true or false.
</Editor's Note>
