use strict;
my $str = '< div class=\'test\' >1 > 0 is < b >true< / b> and apples >>> bananas< / div >';
my $regex = qr/(<)\s*(\/?)\s*([^<>]*\S)\s*(>)/mp;
my $subst = '$1$2$3$4';
my $result = $str =~ s/$regex/$subst/rg;
print "The result of the substitution is' $result\n";
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Perl, please visit: http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html