Diff Tools

diff-so-fancy – human-readable diff output

diff-so-fancy takes conventional Git or unified diff output and reformats it for easier reading in a terminal. It retains the information contained in the original diff while improving the presentation of file headers, hunks and changed lines.

It can be configured as Git’s pager and interactive diff filter, or used with ordinary unified output piped from diff. The emphasis is on making reviews easier to scan without replacing Git’s underlying comparison machinery.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

  • Improves Git diff output with clearer file headers, hunk information and within-line highlighting.
  • Can process standalone unified diff output as well as Git-generated diffs.
  • Supports recursive directory comparisons when fed recursive unified diff output.
  • Removes leading addition and deletion indicators from displayed code by default, making copied lines cleaner.
  • Includes DiffHighlight-style within-line change highlighting.
  • Offers patch mode for use with Git interactive operations.
  • Provides short headers that condense filenames and line information onto a single line.
  • Supports configurable ruler width and either boxed or full-width ruler presentation around filenames.
  • Can use Unicode or ASCII characters when drawing rulers.
  • Handles copied and renamed files in Git output.
  • Can include summaries produced by sem in changed-file headers.
  • Offers configurable treatment of empty lines, hunk indicators and leading diff symbols.
  • Works with terminal width supplied through the environment as well as terminal detection.

Website: github.com/so-fancy/diff-so-fancy
Support:
Developer: Scott Baker and contributors
License: MIT License

diff-so-fancy
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diff-so-fancy is written in Perl. Learn Perl with our recommended free books and free tutorials.


Related Software

Terminal-Based Diff Tools
difftasticStructural diff tool that compares files based on their syntax
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diff-so-fancyAttractive diffs with diff-highlight and more
deltaViewer for git and diff output
icdiffAn improved colored diff
diffoscopeIn-depth comparison of files, archives, and directories
colordiffWrapper for diff with pretty syntax highlighting
diffsitterSemantic diff tool
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diffrWord-by-word diff highlighting utility
dyffdiff tool for YAML files
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dwdiffdiff program that operates at the word level
diffymlCompares YAML documents by their structure
oyoStep-through diff viewer
diff2html-cliGenerate HTML diffs
biodiffTerminal-based binary diff viewer
dirdiffCompute the differences between two directories
csvdiffFast diff tool for comparing CSV files
VBinDiffVisual binary diff
riffWrapper around diff
csv-diffDiffing CSV and JSON files
xmldiffCompare XML documents
PatdiffFile diff using the Patience Diff algorithm
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sesdiffGenerates a shortest edit script
semdiffSemantic diff tool written in Rust

Read our verdict in the software roundup.

Git Tools for Diff Review and Repository History
difftasticStructural diff tool that compares files based on their syntax
git-filter-repoQuickly rewrite git repository history
onefetchDisplays information about a local Git repository
git-statsLocal git statistics including GitHub-like contributions calendars
diff-so-fancyAttractive diffs with diff-highlight and more
BFG Repo-CleanerClean unwanted data from Git repository history
git-deltaViewer for git and diff output
gitlogueCinematic Git commit replay tool
git-quick-statsAccess various statistics in a git repository
git-whoCommand-line Git analysis tool
git-standupRecall what you did on the last working day
git-of-theseusAnalyze how a Git repo grows over time
git-sizerCompute various size metrics for a git repository
diffnavGit diff pager based on delta but with a file tree, à la GitHub
critiqueTerminal UI for reviewing git diffs
git-big-pictureVisualization tool for Git repositories
herculesGain advanced insights from Git repository history
keifuTUI that visualizes Git commit graphs
git-fameGit repository collaborators sorted by contributions
needleHighlights GitHub PRs
mergirafGit merge driver
git-historyAnalyze Git history using SQLite
ecTerminal Git mergetool
diffrWord-by-word diff highlighting utility
git-scopeFast TUI dashboard to view the git status of all your repositories
mamediffManages unstaged and staged Git diffs
deadbranchKeep Git repositories tidy
GitTopLightweight desktop client for GitHub notifications
git-heatmapGenerates a customizable heatmap

Read our verdict in the software roundup.


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BobsYourUncle
BobsYourUncle
5 months ago

Literally thought about this today and found out this was created/updated yesterday 🙌🏾. Great content as always and just donated