GNU Diff Utilities
GNU Diff Utilities is a free and open-source software used for file comparison and finding differences between two files line-by-line. It can compare both text and binary files and output the differences in multiple formats.
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GNU Diff Utilities: Free File Comparison Softwares
A free and open-source software for comparing two files line-by-line, including text and binary file comparisons, with output in multiple formats.
What is GNU Diff Utilities?
GNU Diff Utilities is a free and open-source software package used for comparing files and finding differences between them on a line-by-line basis. It is part of the GNU Project and is distributed under the GNU General Public License.
Some key features of GNU Diff Utilities include:
- Ability to compare both text and binary files
- Supports unified, context, and normal diff formats for output
- Can output differences in multiple formats like normal, unified, HTML, XML, etc.
- DiffUtils includes dif, cmp, and sdiff commands for file comparison
- High performance algorithms provide fast comparison even for large files
- Can compare files or directories recursively
- Ignores spaces and tabs while comparing lines
GNU Diff Utilities is used extensively in software development for comparing source code files, configuration files, etc. It helps developers easily identify changes between different versions of files. The difference output can be used by other programs also to apply those changes. The sdiff command is helpful for interactively merging file differences.
It runs on all major platforms like Linux, MacOS, and Windows. The output is customizable to filter and format the differences in multiple ways. Overall, GNU Diff Utilities provides a robust and highly useful file and directory comparison functionality through a simple commandline interface.
GNU Diff Utilities Features
Features
- Compares files line by line
- Can compare text and binary files
- Outputs differences in multiple formats
- Works across platforms
Pricing
- Open Source
Pros
Free and open source
Powerful diff algorithm
Widely used and well supported
Cons
Command line interface may be less user friendly
Lacks some features of paid diff tools
Official Links
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