$_ = 'foo bar' x 2000; Benchmark: timing 10000 iterations of Loop, RE... Loop: 20 wallclock secs (19.90 usr + 0.00 sys = 19.90 CPU) @ 502.56/s (n=10000) RE: 30 wallclock secs (29.44 usr + 0.00 sys = 29.44 CPU) @ 339.64/s (n=10000) Rate RE Loop RE 340/s -- -32% Loop 503/s 48% -