# check_strings - takes two parameters, returns true if same sub check_strings( $ $ ) { # arguments my ( $string1, $string2 ) = @_; my @elements1 = sort split(',',$string1); my @elements2 = sort split(',',$string2); if ( scalar(@elements1) <=> scalar(@elements2) ) { return( undef ); # differing number of elements } for ( my $i = 0; $i < scalar(@elements1); $i++ ) { if ( $elements1[$i] cmp $elements2[$i] ) { return( undef ); # element differs } } return( 1 ); # elements are all the same }