=over =item $POSTMATCH =item $' X<$'> X<$POSTMATCH> The string following whatever was matched by the last successful pattern match (not counting any matches hidden within a BLOCK or eval() enclosed by the current BLOCK). (Mnemonic: C<'> often follows a quoted string.) Example: local $_ = 'abcdefghi'; /def/; print "$`:$&:$'\n"; # prints abc:def:ghi This variable is read-only and dynamically scoped to the current BLOCK. The use of this variable anywhere in a program imposes a considerable performance penalty on all regular expression matches. See L. See L for a replacement. =back