title: Can I break my Perl regex into multiple lines in my code?
body: <p>I was just wondering if I am able to break up a long regular expression that I have in my Perl code so that it is written over several lines?  I just want the readability and compactness to be intact for anyone that might view my code after its completion.  I am looking for something analagous to the way in which strings are broken up over several lines in Perl.  For example:</p>
  
  <pre><code>print "This is a string that is ". #1st line
        "very long, so it is on 2 lines!"; #2nd line
  # prints = "This is a string that is very long, so it is on 2 lines!" 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I am not sure how to do this with a regex since it does not use quotes.  If I press enter I am guessing it will put a new line character in my regex making it erroneous.  I would like to do something along the lines of:</p>
  
  <pre><code>if($variable_1 = /abcde_abcde_abdcae_adafdf_      #1st regex line
                   abscd_casdf_asdfd_....asdfaf/){ #regex continued
      # do something
  } # regex looking for pattern = abcde_abcde_abdcae_adafdf_abscd_casdf_asdfd_....asdfaf
  </code></pre>