Figured I'd fix up the code and do more realistic benchmarks... code and results follow. 
#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use Benchmark;
 
@a1 = qw(3 99 4 33 43 98 83 64 3 99 4 33 43 98 83 64 99 4 33 43 98 83 
+64);
@a2 = qw(3 99 4 33 43 98 83 64 3 99 4 11 43 98 83 64 99 4 33 43 98 83 
+64); #middle different
@a3 = qw(1 99 4 33 43 98 83 64 3 99 4 11 43 98 83 64 99 4 33 43 98 83 
+64); #first different
@a4 = qw(1);                                   # different size

sub join_eq {
   return join('',@{$_[0]}) eq join('', @{$_[1]} );
}

sub quote_eq {
   return "@{$_[0]}" eq "@{$_[1]}";
}

sub better_quote {
   if ("@{$_[0]}" eq "@{$_[1]}") {
      local $" = 'a';
      return 1 if ("@{$_[0]}" eq "@{$_[1]}");
   }
   return 0;
}

sub loop_eq {
  my ( $a1, $a2 ) = @_;
  return 0 if ($#$a1 != $#$a2);
  for ( 0 .. $#a1 ) {
     return 0 if ( $$a1[$_] ne $$a2[$_] );
  }
  return 1;
}

print "\nEqual sized strings.\n";
timethese(-2, { join => q{ join_eq( \@a1, \@a1 ) }, 
                quote => q{ quote_eq( \@a1, \@a1 ) },
                bquoteSame => q{ better_quote( \@a1, \@a1 ) },
                bquoteDiff => q{ better_quote( \@a1, \@a2 ) },
                loopSame => q{ loop_eq( \@a1, \@a1 ) },
                loopMid => q{ loop_eq( \@a1, \@a2 ) },
                loopBeg => q{ loop_eq( \@a1, \@a3 ) } } );

print "\nDifferent sized.\n";
timethese(-2, { join => q{ join_eq( \@a1, \@a4 ) }, 
                quote => q{ quote_eq( \@a1, \@a4 ) }, 
                bquote => q{ quote_eq( \@a1, \@a4 ) },
                loop => q{ loop_eq( \@a1, \@a4 ) } } );

[download]
Results... 
Equal sized strings.
Benchmark: running bquoteDiff, bquoteSame, join, loopBeg, loopMid, loo
+pSame, quote, each for at least 2 CPU seconds...
bquoteDiff:  2 wallclock secs ( 2.02 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.02 CPU) 
@ 21153.73/s (n=42794)
bquoteSame:  2 wallclock secs ( 2.05 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.05 CPU) 
@ 10422.80/s (n=21398)
      join:  3 wallclock secs ( 2.10 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.10 CPU) 
@ 31310.51/s (n=65846)
   loopBeg:  2 wallclock secs ( 2.14 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.14 CPU) 
@ 30084.42/s (n=64501)
   loopMid:  2 wallclock secs ( 2.08 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.08 CPU) 
@ 13698.51/s (n=28534)
  loopSame:  2 wallclock secs ( 2.09 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.09 CPU) 
@ 8104.16/s (n=16962)
     quote:  3 wallclock secs ( 2.13 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.13 CPU) 
@ 20563.53/s (n=43862)

Different sized.
Benchmark: running bquote, join, loop, quote, each for at least 2 CPU 
+seconds...
    bquote:  2 wallclock secs ( 2.24 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.24 CPU) 
@ 31813.73/s (n=71390)
      join:  1 wallclock secs ( 2.13 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.13 CPU) 
@ 44310.68/s (n=94559)
      loop:  3 wallclock secs ( 2.00 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.00 CPU) 
@ 57423.08/s (n=114961)
     quote:  1 wallclock secs ( 2.11 usr +  0.00 sys =  2.11 CPU) 
@ 32110.27/s (n=67849)

[download]

In reply to RE: Comparing Arrays by Boogman
in thread Comparing Arrays by eak

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