What are good alternatives to lookahead and lookbehind, and how do they compare?

In Perl, lookaheads and lookbehinds are advanced features of regular expressions that allow you to assert conditions without including them in the match. However, there are scenarios where these features may not be the best choice or are not available. Here are some good alternatives:

• Capture Groups: Instead of using lookaheads or lookbehinds, you can use capture groups to extract the information you need. For example, if you want to match a word that is preceded by a space, you could use a capture group to include the space in your match.
• String Functions: Using built-in string functions like `index`, `substr`, or `split` can allow you to achieve similar results without complex regular expressions. These functions can help in manipulating and searching strings effectively.
• Positive and Negative Matches: Instead of lookaheads, you can often structure your regular expression to include patterns that match the desired context explicitly, albeit with a little more complexity in the regex.

The alternatives may require more code or different approaches, but they can lead to simpler, clearer, and more maintainable code. Each method has its advantages and will fit different use cases, so it's essential to consider the context when choosing which technique to employ.