http://qs321.pair.com?node_id=46460


in reply to Re: Detect common lines between two files, one liner from shell
in thread Detect common lines between two files, one liner from shell

I will point to the pieces of documentation from which you can figure it out. I suggest locating it with perldoc, but I will also provide links to site documentation.

The meaning of the -n and -e switches is explained in perlrun. This also tells you what $_ is during the script. As you scan through files, the contents of @ARGV change. The append is being done in scalar context. In that context @ARGV gives you the number of elements you have. The pattern will match when the hash value ends with "10". The two filenames are on the command line. The output is redirected to a file that you look at.

The trick is that for the hash value to get a 1 in it, the line must appear in the first file. For it to get a 0 in it, it must appear in the second. It will only match /10$/ on the first occurance in the second file when it already appeared in the first.