Updated: 09 August 2024
Show the changes required to get from branch1 to branch2
git diff branch1..branch2
which is equivalent to
git diff branch1 branch2
Diff of one file path
git diff branch1..branch2 -- myfile.cs
Diff of a directory between branches
git diff master..mybranch path/to/dir
Diff of one file between version in given commit and local HEAD
git diff 2f43f286 index.php
Show the number of lines changed
git diff --stat
git diff --numstat
Diff from a common ancestor
git diff [options] commitA...commitB [--] [path...]
This form is to view the changes on the branch containing and up to commitB, starting at a common ancestor of both commit
git diff A...B
is equivalent to
git diff $(git merge-base A B) B
Use separate tool (e.g. Meld) to view diff
git difftool --dir-diff branch1 branch2
Diff two directories not tracked by Git
git diff --no-index Downloads Downloads-copy
Highlight changed words using only colors
git diff --color-words
Generate diffs with n lines of context instead of the usual three
git diff --unified=0
git diff -U0
Show only names of changed files
git diff --name-only master media-coverage
Diff two arbitrary files, not necessarily under git controld
git diff --no-index path/1/code.php path/2/code.php
diff algorithms
How different are Git algorithms?
In Git, there are four diff algorithms, namely Myers, Minimal, Patience, and Histogram. The Minimal and the Histogram algorithms are the improved versions of the Myers and the Patience respectively.
git diff --minimal foo bar
git diff --patience foo bar
git diff --histogram foo bar
git diff --anchored=<text> foo bar
git diff --diff-algorithm=myers foo bar
git diff --diff-algorithm=minimal foo bar
git diff --diff-algorithm=patience foo bar
git diff --diff-algorithm=histogram foo bar