bash - 2 while read loops?

Question

So the object of the script I'm making is to compare files from two while read lists that have file path names in them...

while read compareFile <&3; do     
 if [[ ! $server =~ [^[:space:]] ]] ; then  #empty line exception
  continue
 fi   
    echo "Comparing file - $compareFile"
 if diff "$compareFile" _(other file from loop?_) >/dev/null ; then
    echo Same
 else
     echo Different
 fi   
 done 3</infanass/dev/admin/filestoCompare.txt

I need to be able to compare files from two different lists at the same time through two while read loops... Is this even possible?

Answer 1

I think I would restructure that along these lines:

while true
do
   read -u3 line1 || break
   read -u4 line2 || break

   # do whatever...
done 3< file1 4< file2

That uses a single loop, and will exit that loop when end of file is reached on either input file. The logic would be a little more complicated if you want to read both files entirely, even if one ends early...