sub TOLERANCE () { 1e-13 } sub compare { my ($a, $b, $tol) = @_; $tol = TOLERANCE unless (defined($tol)); my $diff = ($a - $b); if ($diff > +$tol) { return +1; } if ($diff < -$tol) { return -1; } return 0; } sub format_cmp { my ($cmp) = @_; if ($cmp < 0) {return "<"; } if ($cmp == 0) {return "="; } if ($cmp > 0) {return ">"; } } print('35 <=> 36 = ', format_cmp(35 <=> 36 ), ' ', format_cmp(compare(35, 36 )), ' = compare(35, 36 )', "\n"); print('35 <=> 35 = ', format_cmp(35 <=> 35 ), ' ', format_cmp(compare(35, 35 )), ' = compare(35, 35 )', "\n"); print('36 <=> 35 = ', format_cmp(36 <=> 35 ), ' ', format_cmp(compare(36, 35 )), ' = compare(36, 35 )', "\n"); print('36.8 <=> 36.6+0.2 = ', format_cmp(36.8 <=> 36.6+0.2), ' ', format_cmp(compare(36.8, 36.6+0.2)), ' = compare(36.8, 36.6+0.2)', "\n"); __END__ output ====== 35 <=> 36 = < < = compare(35, 36 ) 35 <=> 35 = = = = compare(35, 35 ) 36 <=> 35 = > > = compare(36, 35 ) 36.8 <=> 36.6+0.2 = < = = compare(36.8, 36.6+0.2)