$setTimeStart = time; $setCount = 0; while () { # process line here $setCount++; # show line speed for every 1000 lines so prints don't # slow you down so much if($setCount < 999) { $setCount = 0; $setTime = time - $setTimeStart; print "processing 1000 lines at " . $setTime/1000 . " per line\n"; $setTimeStart = time; } }