Matching with ~~

Test a string against a regex; the result is a Match object (truthy) or Nil.

A regex is written between / … /. Smartmatching a string against one with ~~ runs the regex and returns a Match object on success (falsy Nil on failure). The Match stringifies to the matched text.

A basic match #

say "hello" ~~ /ell/;

｢ell｣

The ｢ ｣ corner brackets are how a Match displays — they delimit the matched substring, here ell.

Match as a Boolean #

In Boolean context a Match is true and a failed match is false. so forces that Boolean view.

say so "hello" ~~ /xyz/;
say so "hello" ~~ /ell/;

False
True

Notes #

• Inside a regex, whitespace is insignificant by default, so you can space things out for clarity. Match a literal space with ' ' or \s.
• Bare identifiers in a regex match literally only when quoted ('ell') or via a subrule; unquoted \w, \d, etc. are metacharacters.
• A successful match also sets the $/ "match variable" in the current scope, which the capture syntax reads from — see Captures.