Hello fellow monks, I can't use new modules in our environment( don't ask..), so I need to write the code from scratch. So the structure of array 1 is like so: 
{ 
'name' -> orange,
 'fruit' -> yes,
 'vegetable' -> no,
 'count' -> 50
},
{ 
'name' -> squash,
 'fruit' -> no,
 'vegetable' -> yes,
 'count' -> 10
}, etc..

[download]
array 2: 
 
{'name' -> orange,
 'fruit' -> yes,
 'vegetable' -> no,
 'count' -> 50
 'id' ->123

},
{ 
'name' -> squash,
 'fruit' -> no,
 'vegetable' -> yes,
 'count' -> 10
'id' -> 222
}, etc..

[download]

I need to compare the values of each hash element in the array, and print a difference if the count is different and for what , ex. Apples: was 20, now 30. ( That one I figured out how to do). And then if one has array has more/less elements I need to print something like : Added: Vegetable:beet, count: 20, etc, or removed: Fruit:apple, count 30, etc. I swear my brain just freezes on this one. I'm exhausted. The part that I figured out is below. That's when both arrays have the same number of elements, and I'm just pulling the count difference if any. Note: The array elements are in alphabetical order. array2 is a reference to an array of hashes ( to complicate things even further), 

 for ( my $i =0; $i <=$#array1; $i ++)  {
foreach my $key (sort keys %{$array2[$i]}){
if ($array1[$i]{$key} ne  $$array2[$i]{$key}) {
print "changes";
}
}
}

[download]
How do I do the other comparison when the number of keys is different? I hope I was clear, I hope someone can help.. Thank you!

In reply to comparing 2 arrays of hashes by pearlgirl

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