Rate   wregex windex_2   windex
wregex   212/s       --     -24%     -32%
windex_2 277/s      31%       --     -11%
windex   310/s      47%      12%       --

##</code><code>##

use strict;
use warnings;

use Benchmark 'cmpthese';

srand( 0 );
my $s = join '', map chr(97+int(rand(26))), 1..100_000;
my $n = $s =~ tr/a/a/;
print "$n\n";

cmpthese( -1,
          {
           windex   => \&windex,
           windex_2 => \&windex_2,
           wregex   => \&wregex,
          }
        );

sub windex {
  my @o;
  my $o = -1;
  while ( ( $o = index( $s, 'a', $o+1 )) > -1 ) { push @o, $o }
  return;
}

sub windex_2 {
  my @o;
  $#o = $n - 1;
  my $o = -1;
  my $i = 0;
  while ( ( $o = index( $s, 'a', $o+1 )) > -1 ) { $o[ $i++ ] = $o }
  return;
}

sub wregex {
  my @o;
  $s =~ m/a(?{ push @o, pos() - 1 })(?!)/;
  return;
}
__END__
3797
          Rate   wregex windex_2   windex
wregex   212/s       --     -24%     -32%
windex_2 277/s      31%       --     -11%
windex   310/s      47%      12%       --