use strict; for ('12/09/2003', '12/10/2003', '01/01/2004') { my $date = $_; print "Before: $date\n"; $date =~ s!/0?(\d+)/!/$1/!; print "Leading zero off of day: $date\n"; $date = $_; $date =~ s!0?(\d+)/0?(\d+)!$1/$2!; print "Leading zero off of month and day: $date\n\n"; } __END__ Before: 12/09/2003 Leading zero off of day: 12/9/2003 Leading zero off of month and day: 12/9/2003 Before: 12/10/2003 Leading zero off of day: 12/10/2003 Leading zero off of month and day: 12/10/2003 Before: 01/01/2004 Leading zero off of day: 01/1/2004 Leading zero off of month and day: 1/1/2004