Original
Modified
Understanding Diff
📝 What is a Diff?
A diff (difference) shows the changes between two versions of text or code. It highlights additions, deletions, and modifications, making it easy to see exactly what changed.
Diffs are commonly used in version control systems (like Git), code reviews, and document comparison to track changes over time.
🎯 When to Use a Diff Checker
- Code Reviews: Compare code before and after changes
- Debugging: Find what changed to cause a bug
- Version Control: Review commits, merges, and pull requests
- Document Editing: Track changes in contracts, agreements, or articles
- Configuration Files: Spot differences in config files across environments
- Data Validation: Compare database dumps, JSON responses, or API outputs
🎨 Understanding the Color Coding
- Green (Added): New lines or text that didn't exist in the original
- Red (Deleted): Lines or text that were removed from the original
- Yellow (Changed): Lines that were modified (combination of additions and deletions)
- Gray (Unchanged): Lines that stayed exactly the same
Character-level highlights within lines show the exact text that was added or removed.
💡 Tips for Better Comparisons
- ✅ Enable "Ignore whitespace" to focus on actual content changes
- ✅ Use "Ignore case" when comparing text where capitalization doesn't matter
- ✅ Select the correct programming language for syntax awareness
- ✅ Use Side-by-Side view for quick visual comparison
- ✅ Use Inline view for detailed line-by-line review
- ✅ Export to Unified Diff format for sharing with Git or version control tools
- ✅ Use the navigation buttons to jump between changes quickly