print "trying...\n"; $x = qr/japhy/o; print $you =~ $x; # makes a tree like [print "trying\n"] [compile regex /japhy/] [return regex (some internal form)] [match regex on $you] [print] # the /o modifier tells [return regex] to MODIFY the tree [print "trying\n"] -------------------\ [compile regex /japhy/] | [return regex (some internal form)] <-/ [match regex on $you] [print]