use strict;
use warnings;
use 5.010;
my $str = "The black cat climbed the green tree";
say index $str, 'cat'; # 10
say index $str, 'dog'; # -1
say index $str, "The"; # 0
say index $str, "the"; # 22
It will search for the location of the second string in the first string. Returns -1
in case the string could not find the second string.
You can also add a 3rd parameter that will tell index
where to start the serach from.
It is like the rindex function but starts searching from the left-hand side of the string. See also the explanation in String functions: length, lc, uc, index, substr.