http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=1041826


in reply to Re^2: split with a delimiter, every 4 time it occurs.
in thread split with a delimiter, every 4 time it occurs.

I would suggest that it really depends on how “very” your “big” is.   You might have to read a large file in arbitrarily-sized sections, which can get messy when you are doing this sort of thing.   Usually it’s best to cross such bridges if-and-when you get there.   What sort of data-volume and speed requirements might you be dealing with?