filecmp.cmp()

filecmp.cmp(f1, f2, shallow=True)

Compare the files named f1 and f2, returning True if they seem equal, False otherwise.

If shallow is true, files with identical os.stat() signatures are taken to be equal. Otherwise, the contents of the files are compared.

Note that no external programs are called from this function, giving it portability and efficiency.

This function uses a cache for past comparisons and the results, with cache entries invalidated if the os.stat() information for the file changes. The entire cache may be cleared using clear_cache().