If you're just trying to see if they are different:

open(my $fh1, '<', $file1) or die $!;
binmode($fh1);

open(my $fh2, '<', $file2) or die $!;
binmode($fh2);

local $/ = \(64*1024);  # Tweak as desired.
for (;;) {
   my $blk1 = <$fh1>;
   my $blk2 = <$fh2>;

   last if !defined($blk1) && !defined($blk2);

   die("diff\n")
      if !defined($blk1)
      || !defined($blk2)
      || $blk1 ne $blk2;
}
[download]

Might want to save time by pre-checking the size of the files.

It would be trivial to modify this code to output the bytes that differ.

Detecting insertions and deletions is a whole other story, though.

Hash::MD5 will calculate the hash for you.

Why? It seems to me that reading entire file to calculate its hashes is a waste of time compared to just reading the entire file.

Calculating hashes is useful in two circumstances: 1) When comparing one document to many (or many to many), 2) When a compact signature of the file is needed (for ease of communication or storage).

sub files_differ {
  system "cmp file1 file2";
 return $? >> 8;
}
[download]

sub files_differ {
  system "cmp file1 file2";
 return $? >> 8;
}
[download]

Windows has no "cmp" command. $? is set to 0x0100, files_differ always returns 1, even with missing files, even with identical files. Instant fail.

H:\>perl -e "system 'cmp file1 file2';print $?,' ',$? >> 8"
'cmp' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
256 1
H:\>
[download]

And by the way: Omitting quotes around the file name begs for trouble as soon as you replace the constants with variables. Using the multiple argument form of system would prevent that problem.

Alexander

--
Today I will gladly share my knowledge and experience, for there are no sweeter words than "I told you so". ;-)

I have a cmp command on my windows system. There is also the comp command which has been available on all versions of windows:

C:\test>cmp
cmp: missing operand
cmp: Try `cmp --help' for more information.

C:\test>comp /?
Compares the contents of two files or sets of files.

COMP [data1] [data2] [/D] [/A] [/L] [/N=number] [/C] [/OFF[LINE]]

  data1      Specifies location and name(s) of first file(s) to compar
+e.
  data2      Specifies location and name(s) of second files to compare
+.
  /D         Displays differences in decimal format.
  /A         Displays differences in ASCII characters.
  /L         Displays line numbers for differences.
  /N=number  Compares only the first specified number of lines in each
+ file.
  /C         Disregards case of ASCII letters when comparing files.
  /OFF[LINE] Do not skip files with offline attribute set.

To compare sets of files, use wildcards in data1 and data2 parameters.
[download]

---

Examine what is said, not who speaks -- Silence betokens consent -- Love the truth but pardon error.

"Science is about questioning the status quo. Questioning authority".

In the absence of evidence, opinion is indistinguishable from prejudice.

Quite agree on the list form invocation; that's a much better choice. I always forget it, for some reason.

Re no cmp on Windows: that just means this isn't the simplest possible thing for Windows. I'm sure there is an equivalent.