This first bit is just setting up 4 arrays with random integer test data.

my @a = (shuffle 1 .. $N)[ 0 .. $E ]; my @b = (shuffle 1 .. $N)[ 0 .. $E ]; my @c = (shuffle 1 .. $N)[ 0 .. $E ]; my @d = (shuffle 1 .. $N)[ 0 .. $E ];

This bit builds a hash of hashes using the values from the arrays as primary keys and the 'name' of the array that value came from as the secondary key.

my %comp; $comp{ $_ }{a} = 'a' for @a; $comp{ $_ }{b} = 'b' for @b; $comp{ $_ }{c} = 'c' for @c; $comp{ $_ }{d} = 'd' for @d;

print a header

print " : a b c d\n--------------";

And this bit does the display

printf "%4s : %s\n", $_, join ' ', map{ $_||'-' } @{ $comp{ $_ } }{ 'a'..'d' } for sort{$a<=>$b} keys %comp;

In reverse order

for sort{$a<=>$b} keys %comp;

For each key (ie. each unique value from the four arrays), in the primary hash, sorted into (in this case ascending numeric order),

@{ $comp{ $_ } }{ 'a'..'d' }

Take a slice across the hash for this value,

map{ $_||'-' }

Pass the values through a map to replace undef values by a token ('-') to represent that this value was missing in this array.

join ' ',

joins the 'found' and 'missing' tokens into a string with some spaces for presentation.

printf "%4s : %s\n", $_,

and print out the value, and the string showing which arrays it was found in.

Each iteration of that loop gives you one line showing 'this value' appeared/was missing in these arrays. So for my test data you read this line:

6 : a b - d

As "The value 6 appeared in array @a @b @d but was missing from @c"


Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.
Lingua non convalesco, consenesco et abolesco. -- Rule 1 has a caveat! -- Who broke the cabal?
"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".
In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

In reply to Re^3: confusing array comparison by BrowserUk
in thread confusing array comparison by Anonymous Monk

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