$mystring = ($mystring =~ /(\w{3,})$/) ? $1 : '';
Print “DOE”;


##</code><code>##


$mystring = ($mystring =~ / (\w{1,2}\s)(\w+)$/) ? $2 : '';
Print “JOE”;


##</code><code>##

$mystring = ($mystring =~ /(\w{1}\s\w+)|(\w{3,})$/) ? $1 : '';

print "\n $mystring\n";


##</code><code>##

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

#my $mystring = "SMITH, A DOE";
my $mystring  = "BULLOCK JOE A";

if($mystring =~ /(\w{3,})$/) {
    
   print "\n\n $1\n\n";
	
}elsif($mystring =~ /(\w{1,2}\s)(\w+)$/) {
    
  print "\n\n $2\n\n";
  
}