my @numbers = split /, /,$file;

##</code><code>##

print join("\n",@numbers) . "\n";

##</code><code>##

foreach my $index (1 .. $#numbers)

##</code><code>##

my $difference = abs($numbers[$index] - $numbers[$index - 1]);

##</code><code>##

$max_difference = ($index == 1 or $difference > $max_difference)?$difference:$max_difference;

##</code><code>##

print "$max_difference\n";

##</code><code>##

use strict;
use warnings;
my $file='3.34, 3.67, 4.75, 4.98';
my @numbers=split /, /,$file;
my $max_difference;
foreach my $index(1 .. $#numbers) {
   my $difference = abs($numbers[$index] - $numbers[$index  - 1]);
   $max_difference = ($index == 1 or $difference > $max_difference)?$difference:$max_difference;
}
print "$max_difference\n";