webcoredesktop/content/software/difftastic.md

title, category, tagline, source, package, command, website, code

title	category	tagline	source	package	command	website	code
difftastic	Developer tools	A diff tool that understands code syntax, so it shows what really changed.	pacman	difftastic	difft	https://difftastic.wilfred.me.uk/	https://github.com/Wilfred/difftastic

What it is

difftastic compares files by their structure rather than line by line. It parses the code for dozens of languages, so a reformatted or re-indented block isn't shown as changed, and moved or wrapped code is matched up correctly. Results are shown side by side with syntax highlighting.

Why it's here

• Less noise. Formatting changes don't hide the real ones.
• Works with Git. Use it as Git's diff tool for any command that shows a diff.

On CoreDesktop

difftastic is installed from pacman as the difft command. CoreDesktop doesn't make it Git's default diff tool; to use it for one command:

GIT_EXTERNAL_DIFF=difft git diff

update keeps it current with the rest of the pacman packages.