For example, return the part of the string that is after the last x in axxxghdfx445 (should return 445).
x
axxxghdfx445
445
the first answer is a good one, but when talking about "something that does not contain"... i like to use the regex that "matches" it
my($substr) = $string =~ /.*x([^x]*)$/;
very usefull in some case