How can I extract the matches from the Perl match operator into variables?

Question

If I have a match operator, how do I save the parts of the strings captured in the parentheses in variables instead of using $1, $2, and so on?

Answer 1

You can use named capture buffers:

if (/ (? .+? ) \s* : \s* (? .+ ) /x) { 
    $hash{$+{key}} = $+{value};
}