use strict; use warnings; my @array1 = qw/ jed jethro zed zug /; my @array2 = qw/ jed jed jed zack zed zug zug /; print join(':', @$_), "\n" for count_occurrences( \@array1, \@array2 ); sub count_occurrences { my( $wanted, $have ) = @_; my %counter; @counter{@$wanted} = (0)x@$wanted; $counter{$_}++ for @$have; return map { [ $_ => $counter{$_} ] } @$wanted; } #### jed:3 jethro:0 zed:1 zug:2