lcmp - List Comparison Tool

Table of Contents

1. Description
2. Features
3. Requirements
4. Installation
5. Usage
6. License
7. For Beginners
8. Examples

Description

lcmp is a lightweight tool designed to compare two lists and determine their differences. It allows you to find elements that are common to both lists, those that appear only in the first, and those that appear only in the second. This makes it useful for various applications, such as dataset analysis, user list management, or general list comparisons.

Additionally, lcmp includes support for processing Instagram data, allowing users to analyze their followers and following lists. It can extract relevant data from downloaded Instagram files or directly from HTML<div> elements.

Features

• Compare two lists and identify elements that:
  • Appear in both lists.
  • Exist in the first list but not in the second.
  • Exist in the second list but not in the first.
• Process raw text files with one item per line.
• Handle Instagram follower/following lists from downloaded data.
• Extract user lists from <div> elements copied from Instagram’s web interface.
• Display results in a structured format for easy analysis.

Requirements

• A C compiler (such as GCC, Clang, etc.). (Tested with GCC 13.2.0. Older versions may not work properly.)
• stb_ds.h (already included in the project, no need to install separately).

Installation

To install and compile lcmp, follow these steps:

git clone https://github.com/mblucasm/lcmp.git
cd lcmp
gcc -O2 -o lcmp src/main.c src/arg.c src/buf.c src/method.c src/error.c src/slice.c

If you're new to programming or using a terminal, don't worry! I have a dedicated section: For Beginners. There, you'll find a detailed step-by-step guide explaining everything, from downloading the project to running it, in a way that's easy to follow—even if you've never used a terminal before.

Usage

To compare two lists, run:

./lcmp list1 list2

Where list1 and list2 contain the lists you want to compare. The program will output the differences between the two lists.

Instagram Data Processing

If you want to analyze your Instagram followers and following, you can specify the Instagram data folder directly:

./lcmp --instagram-folder=<path/to/folder>

Alternatively, if you have copied the <div> elements containing followers or following from the web interface, you can use those as input files.

To get more details about the program's usage, run:

./lcmp --help

License

This project is licensed under the Do What The Fuck You Want To Public License (WTFPL). See LICENSE for details.

For Beginners

If you've never used a terminal or compiled a program before, this section will guide you step by step.

1. Opening the Terminal

To run commands, you'll need to open the terminal:

• Windows: Open PowerShell or CMD (Command Prompt).
• Mac: Open Terminal from your applications or search bar.

2. Downloading the Project

There are two ways to get lcmp:

• Option 1: Using Git (Recommended if you have Git installed)

  git clone https://github.com/mblucasm/lcmp.git

  This will create a folder named lcmp in your current directory.

• Option 2: Downloading as a ZIP file

  • Visit the GitHub repository.
  • Click the green "Code" button and select Download ZIP.
  • Extract the ZIP file into a folder.

3. Checking if You Already Have a Compiler Installed

To check if you already have a compiler installed, open the terminal and type:

<compiler> --version

Replace <compiler> with gcc, clang, or another compiler name. If a version number appears, you already have a compiler installed. If not, follow the next step to install one.

4. Installing a Compiler

A C compiler is required to compile the program. If you don't have one, follow these steps:

• Windows:

  • Download w64devkit from this link → Go to Releases and download the .exe that suits your device (x64 for 64-bit systems, x86 for 32-bit systems).
  • Run the .exe file to extract w64devkit.
  • w64devkit provides gcc and cc as compilers.
  • To ensure the compiler is available in the terminal, add it to your system's PATH.

• Mac:

  • If clang --version didn't show a version, install Clang by running:

    xcode-select --install

4.1 Adding the Compiler to Your System's PATH

The PATH is an environment variable that tells your operating system where to look for executable files. If a program is in a directory listed in the PATH, you can run it from any terminal window without specifying the full path.

To add a program (e.g., gcc from w64devkit) to your PATH:

• Windows:
  1. Open System Properties (Win + R, type sysdm.cpl, press Enter).
  2. Go to the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables.
  3. Under System Variables, find Path and click Edit.
  4. Click New and add the path to the w64devkit bin folder.
  5. Click OK and restart the terminal.

5. Navigating to the Project Folder

Once you have the project downloaded and the compiler installed:

1. Open the terminal.
2. Use the cd command to move into the project directory:

   cd <path/to/lcmp>

The cd command stands for "change directory". It is used to navigate to different folders in your file system. When you open the terminal, you start in your home directory. To go to another folder, you type cd followed by the path to the folder you want to go to.

For example, if your project is in a folder named "lcmp" on your desktop, you would type cd Desktop/lcmp.

6. Compiling and Running the Program

Now, compile the code into an executable program.

For GCC:

gcc -O2 -o lcmp src/main.c src/arg.c src/buf.c src/method.c src/error.c src/slice.c

For Clang (or other compilers), replace gcc with the name of your compiler:

<compiler> -O2 -o lcmp src/main.c src/arg.c src/buf.c src/method.c src/error.c src/slice.c

This will generate an executable file called lcmp, to see how to use it, read Usage

That's it! You've successfully downloaded, compiled, and run the project. If you encounter any issues, there are many online tutorials and videos that explain how to set up and use compilers and terminals, so don't hesitate to check them out for more help.

Remember: The goal of this project is to be as simple and accessible as possible. Enjoy using it!

Examples

@TODO