Can I break my Perl regex into multiple lines in my code?
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I was just wondering if I am able to break up a long regular expression that I have in my Perl code so that it is written over several lines?  I just want the readability and compactness to be intact for anyone that might view my code after its completion.  I am looking for something analagous to the way in which strings are broken up over several lines in Perl.  For example:

    print "This is a string that is ". #1st line
          "very long, so it is on 2 lines!"; #2nd line
    # prints = "This is a string that is very long, so it is on 2 lines!" 
I am not sure how to do this with a regex since it does not use quotes.  If I press enter I am guessing it will put a new line character in my regex making it erroneous.  I would like to do something along the lines of:

    if($variable_1 = /abcde_abcde_abdcae_adafdf_      #1st regex line
                     abscd_casdf_asdfd_....asdfaf/){ #regex continued
        # do something
    } # regex looking for pattern = abcde_abcde_abdcae_adafdf_abscd_casdf_asdfd_....asdfaf