str = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz"
1.upto(10){|x|
  str << str
}

t1 = Time.now.to_f
1.upto(1000000){|x|
  str =~ /jkl/
}
t2 = Time.now.to_f
reg = /jkl/
puts "Time: #{t2 - t1}"
1.upto(1000000){|x|
  str =~ reg
}
t3 = Time.now.to_f
puts "Time: #{t3 - t2}"

#Output follows from repeated program runs...
@hybrid:~/Documents$ ruby regex_bench.rb
Time: 4.46183609962463
Time: 5.01269507408142
@hybrid:~/Documents$ ruby regex_bench.rb
Time: 4.91851782798767
Time: 5.75694799423218