Fastest way to tell if two files have the same contents in Unix/Linux?

I like @Alex Howansky have used 'cmp --silent' for this. But I need both positive and negative response so I use:

cmp --silent file1 file2 && echo '### SUCCESS: Files Are Identical! ###' || echo '### WARNING: Files Are Different! ###'

I can then run this in the terminal or with a ssh to check files against a constant file.

To quickly and safely compare any two files:

if cmp --silent -- "$FILE1" "$FILE2"; then
  echo "files contents are identical"
else
  echo "files differ"
fi

It's readable, efficient, and works for any file names including "` $()

I believe cmp will stop at the first byte difference:

cmp --silent $old $new || echo "files are different"

Because I suck and don't have enough reputation points I can't add this tidbit in as a comment.

But, if you are going to use the cmp command (and don't need/want to be verbose) you can just grab the exit status. Per the cmp man page:

If a FILE is '-' or missing, read standard input. Exit status is 0 if inputs are the same, 1 if different, 2 if trouble.

So, you could do something like:

STATUS="$(cmp --silent $FILE1 $FILE2; echo $?)"  # "$?" gives exit status for each comparison

if [[ $STATUS -ne 0 ]]; then  # if status isn't equal to 0, then execute code
    DO A COMMAND ON $FILE1
else
    DO SOMETHING ELSE
fi

EDIT: Thanks for the comments everyone! I updated the test syntax here. However, I would suggest you use Vasili's answer if you are looking for something similar to this answer in readability, style, and syntax.