Best Diff Tool?

Question

For all my present Diff / Merge needs I'm using [Beyond Compare][1]; when I decided to buy a license for it I tried other similar tools, both payware and freeware.

Now BC is at version 3, and I think it's a great tool... but what are your experience in this field? Do you think there is something better? And what are the feature you like best on your favorite Diff tool?

EDIT

I'm recollecting here a list of the tools mentioned in the answers below, in order of preferences (more or less), separating pay- from free- ware and indicating supported operating system. Hope this helps.

PAYWARE

• Beyond Compare (win + linux) - http://www.scootersoftware.com/
• Araxis Merge (win + osX) - http://www.araxis.com/merge/index.html
• ExamDiff Pro (win) - http://www.prestosoft.com/edp_examdiffpro.asp
• ECMerge (win, osX, linux) - http://www.elliecomputing.com/Home/default.asp
• MergePlant (win) - http://www.mikado-ltd.com/
• Changes (OSX) http://www.changesapp.com
• Deltopia DeltaWalker (win, osx, linux) http://www.deltopia.com/
• Compare++ (win) http://www.coodesoft.com/index.html
• Smart Differencer (win) http://www.semanticdesigns.com/Products/SmartDifferencer

FREEWARE

• FileMerge (OSX) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Developer_Tools#FileMerge
• Tortoise SVN (win) - http://tortoisesvn.net/
• WinMerge (win) - http://winmerge.org/
• ExamDiff (win) - http://www.prestosoft.com/ps.asp?page=edp_examdiff
• Diff Merge from SourceGear (win, linux, OSX) - http://www.sourcegear.com/diffmerge/index.html
• Perforce Merge (win + linux + OSX) - http://www.perforce.com/perforce/products/merge.html
• meld (linux) - sudo apt-get install meld http://meld.sourceforge.net/
• Vimdiff - vim distribution
• KDiff3 - http://kdiff3.sf.net/
• ediff - EMacs distribution
• Tiny Hexer
• Kompare (KDE, linux) - http://www.caffeinated.me.uk/kompare/
• tkdiff (win, linux, osX) - http://tkdiff.sourceforge.net
• Code Compare (win) - http://www.devart.com/codecompare/

Answer 1

Diff Merge from SourceGear is free and good: http://www.sourcegear.com/diffmerge/index.html

Answer 2

We use Perforce for source control at work, and now Perforce have released their merge tool as a free stand alone merge tool. I think it's pretty good, plus, it integrates well with Perforce server.

http://www.perforce.com/perforce/products/merge.html

Answer 3

I'm partial to WinMerge, which does everything I need. I've never used Beyond Compare so I can't speak to the difference in features between the two.

Answer 4

I've had good luck with ExamDiff; it's free and does what I need it to do.

Answer 5

I have used a few others and found that Beyond Compare is quite good. I say stick with that.

Answer 6

I use meld.

sudo apt-get install meld

Answer 7

I second the WinMerge recommendation, it handles file/folder diffing and merging greatly. There are handy filters built in as well to block out source control files and stuff like that. Plus it's free! Here's the list of features from the site:

• Visual differencing and merging of text files
• Flexible editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers and word-wrap
• Handles DOS, UNIX and MAC text file formats
• Unicode support
• Difference pane shows current difference in two vertical panes
• Location pane shows map of files compared
• Highlights differences inside lines in file compare
• Regular Expression based file filters in directory compare allow excluding and including items
• Moved lines detection in file compare
• Creates patch files
• Resolve conflict files
• Shell Integration (supports 64-bit Windows versions), including an option to easily select two items (if enabled in its settings)
• Rudimentary Visual SourceSafe and Rational ClearCase integration
• Archive file support using 7-Zip
• Plugin support
• Localizable interface
• Online manual and installed HTML Help manual

Answer 8

I use winmerge. One thing I /would/ like to see in it would be the ability to force a match (this line on the left is that line on the right)

Answer 9

I use the Compare plugin for Notepad++; its built right into your editor. While it doesn't compare directories or anything "advanced," it does a great job at file-to-file comparison. And it's free.

Answer 10

Vimdiff.

It's part of the vim distribution. Interactive, syntax-highlighting diff with the full text editing power of vim. It uses folding ("zc" to close a fold, "zo" to open one) to hide matching parts.

Answer 11

I use perforce merge for single-file source merges and araxis merge for folder-to-folder compare.

I think perforce is superior for single file - I really like it's 4-way merge screen (source control branch tip, local version, common ancestor from source control and target) and it's color/shape-coding. Also, it's automatic merge (suggested target) is very smart and suitable for Java.

Araxis merge has the unique capability to compare an entire folder tree, drilling down to file-to-file compare in a click. I find this useful in version compare situations when I quickly need to assess the amount of changes or track a specific change.

Answer 12

The best tool which I saw and used is Araxis Merge. It has a lot of useful functions, including:

• Auto resolving of conflicts after merge.
• Horizontal and vertical two and three-way comparison.
• Strong edition features (move, delete, add before/after line/block, in-place editing).

Answer 13

I like the merge that is included in Tortoise SVN

Answer 14

I'd second the recommendation of (g)vimdiff. Often its very useful to have a powerful text editor, complete with syntax highlighting while comparing (and merging) files.

For situations where a tool (e.g. CVS or git) has already run a merge and left conflicts in a file, xxdiff has a really neat mode where it can separate the file and show it in a side-by-side diff.

Answer 15

I vote for KDiff3. It supports 3-way merging, which is great for working with copy-edit-merge version control systems like Subversion. It also allows editing in the results pane.

The only other diff tool I know that supports 3-way merging is diffmerge.

Winmerge does not support 3-way merging, so it is not good enough for me.

Answer 16

By far, BeyondCompare is the best diff/merge tool that I have ever used.

• We evaluated both BeyondCompare and Araxis for integration into clearcase, and after extensive testing with complicated deliveries BeyondCompare came out on top because of its solid handling of complex automatic merges. It happens to be much cheaper as well.
• I use the Explorer context menu integration all the time on Windows (32-bit and 64-bit)
• It runs on both Windows and Linux
• Love the free trial period.. finally a product that is "30 days of use" instead of "30 days since I installed and forgot about it".
  • Excellent discounts if you purchase in bulk
• Powerful directory comparisons
  • Compare a directory to a .zip file
  • Compare a directory to an FTP site
• 3-way Merge, inline editing, syntax highlighting
• compare images, Source Code, binary files, mp3 metadata, ...
• can save "sessions".. for instance: compare changes in the last 60 days in "My Documents" to an folder on an external hard drive
• Good source control integration
  • When you diff with a directory that's configured under source control, it will prompt you to automatically check out the files you're trying to overwrite!
  • Can be configured to handle the silent merges for clearcase (probabaly other tools too)
• Supports input/output filters, for instance XMLTidy/HTMLTidy

Answer 17

Another vote for Araxis Merge. The Standard Edition has covered 95% of the diff/merge tasks that I've encountered. It is good enough that I purchased a personal copy for work.

Answer 18

I've tried a bunch of the other diff tools out there and I still keep coming back to Beyond Compare. I haven't tried v3 of Beyond Compare yet though...

Answer 19

I think it depends on what your trying to compare and why. I use WinMerge most of the time. Sometimes I use DiffMerge. Sometimes I use Tiny Hexer.

Answer 20

ediff - bundled with Emacs

It handles pair-wise diffing, file merging, directory diffing/merging. It can apply mutli-file patches, and it groks version control. Plus, you get all the features of Emacs: .zip/.gz/.tar support, syntax highlighting, ftp/ssh support, unicode, etc. etc.

Answer 21

Would agree with the top 3:

• Beyond Compare (if you have money to spend)

Otherwise:

• WinMerge (free)

• Diff Merge from SourceGear (free)

Answer 22

After trying a couple other diff programs for Windows, I stuck with Araxis Merge. The standard version does about everything I'd want done with 2-way diffing. Also, the immediate impression it makes is very good; it doesn't overwhelm you with colored lines. In other words, it tells you what you need to know without confusion. It is also supported very well.

Answer 23

Even if I did not try these, I'm adding for completeness also:

• ECMerge, 2 and 3 way merge, cross-platform (runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris 10): http://www.elliecomputing.com/Home/default.asp

• MergePlant, again 3-way merge: http://www.mikado-ltd.com/

Answer 24

Beyond Compare for Windows is a must - in Mac land there aren't many to choose from (which is a pitty) Changes isn't too bad, but pales in comparison to a full featured tool like Beyond Compare.

Answer 25

I think Kompare has the best interface of any diff tool I have even seen, I just wish I could find something like it in Windows.

http://www.caffeinated.me.uk/kompare/

Answer 26

On Mac OS X you have Apples FileMerge which comes with the Developer Tools.

Answer 27

A couple more for the list.

Changes for OSX as payware (http://www.changesapp.com)

tkdiff is free under the GPL (http://tkdiff.sourceforge.net)

Answer 28

1. Winmerge
2. notepad++ merge plugin (usually use this as a quick way if I do have both files open but for serious merging I'll go to no. 1)

I don't know Beyond Compare or Araxis thus can't comment on them.

Answer 29

Another vote from me for WinMerge. I've been using this tool for some years now and with a recent new project I discovered just another nice feature:

The installer integrates nicely with a local clearcase client installation.

Answer 30

WinMerge and eDiff; I use WinMerge when I'm comparing entire folders, but eDiff for 2 or 3 files, or snippet comparison.

Answer 31

Diffuse (http://diffuse.sourceforge.net/) is good cross-platform diff/merge tool. It's features include:

• ability to compare and merge an arbitrary number of files side-by-side (n-way merges)
• line matching can be manually corrected by the user
• ability to directly edit files
• syntax highlighting
• Bazaar, CVS, Darcs, Git, Mercurial, Monotone, Subversion, and SVK support
• support for UTF-8 encoded unicode
• unlimited undo
• easy keyboard navigation

Answer 32

I like SmartSynchronize. It is effectively the built-in compare/merge tool for SmartCVS (and I assume SmartSVN), but separated out for use on the file system. Written in Java, so runs on most Java-supporting platforms.

Answer 33

I really like the free and excellent Perforce Merge tool (also known as p4merge).

Answer 34

Beyond compare is an excellent tool. The only downside is it is payware. Wikipedia has a great chart comparing all the features amongst the various programs even some not listed in the question. link text

Answer 35

SourceGear's Diffmerge also has folder diffing. Using the tool with Mercurial :-)

Answer 36

Most diff tools report just text differences at the line level.

A tool that compares source code structures, regardless of whitespace formatting (including line breaks) and reports reports changes in terms of structures inserted, deleted, moved, replaced, or changed by consistent identifier renaming gives better information to the programmer.

Our Smart Differencer does this for many languages, including Java, C#, Javascript and COBOL.

EDIT Feb 2010: Now does C++, PHP and XML

EDIT Aug 2010: Now does Python, EGL and Natural

Answer 37

Beyond Compare? That's so 80's...

Check out, history flow, now you're talking diff, over an infinite set of changes.

It's the closet thing that you can get (yes free code available) that even BEGINS to be in the same ballpark as the visualization guru, Ben Fry, had developed the revisionist:

While it's obvious that the code in a software project changes over time, less obvious is the nature of how the code how individual changes have taken place in a broader context. Projects are typically structured as a collection of files that are added, removed, and reorganized throughout the course of development. The contents of the individual files are modified, line by line or in large pieces for every fix and feature.

the Revisionist, de facto, more than beyond comparison, it's beyond reproach.

Answer 38

WinMerge is out because it doesn't do side-by-side comparisons of FOLDERS/FOLDER TREES.

I currently use BC2.x & love it.

Also, it is licensed for use BY ME on unlimited PCs, and can be configured as a PORTABLE APP.

I never heard of Araxis, but it looks good, and it does 3-way merges (BC2 doesn't, I don't know if BC3 does). But Araxis is MUCH more expensive, and is licensed per computer (thus I doubt it can be configured to be portable).

Answer 39

checked website.

BC3 does do 3-way mergers, if you buy the pro version ($20 more)

Answer 40

I personally use Delta Walker. It is available on Windows/OS X/Linux, works as good as Araxis, but is much cheaper.

Answer 41

please try Compare++. The diff tool is a visual specialized tool for source code file comparison, merging and folder synchronization.

What you can do with Compare++

• Compare sub-sections of files such as code structures;
• Compare files and folders with lightning speed;
• List all code structures change such as function changes
• One step to merge multiple differences from side to side
• Compare the containing folder for loaded files
• Support "Edit files and instantly compare"
• Automatically detect files and folders changes outside

Answer 42

I use CodeCompare (http://www.devart.com/codecompare/) for C# code comparing. It is very useful - product is integrated to the Visual Studio and I can make changes with the help of the Visual Studio editor.

Answer 43

what about good old 'diff' command? Is good writing diff scripts.

Answer 44

Take a look at the Xdiff in Plastic. Together with the typical diff stuff, it can also track moved code fragments even when they've been modified after the move (some sort of refactor-aware diff tool)

Answer 45

I really like the diff tool in IntelliJ IDEA. Wish they had a standalone version as well.