($var1, $var2) = split("\t", $string);
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my ($var1, $var2) = split("\t", $string);
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my ($var1, $var2) = split /\t/, "string with\ttabs";
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or if you really want to do it with a regex:

my ($str1, $str2) = $line =~ /^(.*?)\t(.*)/;
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Note that this splits at the first tab. Remove the ? and it will split at the last tab. Note also that the solutions using split actually generate a list with one entry per tab plus one. The regex can only generate a list with two entries. See perlretut.

or equivalently (to the one listed above, with the '?'):

 my ( $str1, $str2 ) = split(/\t/, $line, 2);
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(so much for showing effort ;) (update - meant this in general, not directed at GrandFather!))

By the time I replied there was a decided lack of evidence of effort, but maybe Bugorr will take the hint for next time? :)

Bugorr would do well to read How do I post a question effectively?

---

Perl is Huffman encoded by design.

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;

my $str = "first\tsecond";
my ($first,$second) = ();

($first,$second) = split (/\t/,$str);

print ("First = $first, Second = $second\n");
__END__
First = first, Second = second
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Please check perldoc -f split

-SK

If there are only two lines, there is no need to split.

  my ($one, $two) = <$input>;
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Update: I completely misunderstood the question.