use strict;
use warnings;

my $filename = 'delme.txt';

# Create a sample file
open my $fOut, '>', $filename or die "Can't create $filename: $!\n";
print $fOut <<SAMPLE;
the the the and me
ok big dog me
SAMPLE
close $fOut;

my %words = ('  word  ' => 'count');

open my $fIn, '<', $filename or die "Can't open $filename: $!\n";

while (<$fIn>) {
    $words{$_}++ for split;
}

close $fIn;

printf "%-10s %3s\n", $_, $words{$_} for sort keys %words;