which diff tool do you use?

raddevus

WinDiff is my simple favorite. It's quick & easy to use for comparing two files but if you have two directories to compare it is even better. Its a little odd if you've never used it, but once you use it a couple of times it is the leader for simplicity. I couldn't believe when they removed it & didn't make it available any more. In my mind they removed it, but didn't provide any replacement. Just kind of nutty. I went back to an older machine & saved off the windiff64.exe & windiff.exe so I'd always have them on my dev machines.

Peter_in_2780

Meld is my weapon of choice too.

Software rusts. Simon Stephenson, ca 1994. So does this signature. me, 2012

0x01AA

Beyond Compare for me is great

Joan M

WinMerge works very well, it's simple free and fast.

www.robotecnik.com[^] - robots, CNC and PLC programming

Nelek

Free Tool I use WinMerge and it is pretty good and enough for most use cases Paid Tool I use BeyondCompare 4 and it is the best I have seen so far

M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

Southmountain

what is its unique feature? I would like give it a try...

diligent hands rule....

Nelek

For once I agree with you. ;P But you forgot to say that it is a paid product :)

M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

Southmountain

I use WinMerge too, but now I try to find something new...

diligent hands rule....

0x01AA

;) Yes it is a paid product but trial version is also availabe.

0x01AA

Like Nelek mentioned, it is a paid product, but a trial version is available. Unique at least for me: Syntax (language) recognition. Sorry for my English, I don't know how to explain it :( @Nelek most probably you can explain it ;) I only can say it is worth the money, at least for me. [Edit] It is not only a diff tool, it is especially a kind of a merge tool

Andreas Mertens

I used to like the one that came with subversion...

Dan Neely

SourceGear | DiffMerge[^] has been my weapon of choice for the last 12 or 14 years.

Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, weighing all things in the balance of reason? Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful? --Zachris Topelius

Maximilien

we use an old version of araxis merge.

CI/CD = Continuous Impediment/Continuous Despair

Nelek

I see that you asked above... BeyondCompare is pretty similar to WinMerge, but it is more powerful, faster with copying (you can theoretically multithread it)... It compares the files, but not only plain text, pictures and other stuff. I have used WinMerge for years, and I still install it in PCs I touch for family or friends, but in my PCs, I have changed to BC. Last WinMerge I used in Win10 had already got new functions and could do more than the versions I was used to use, but I still prefer BC. The trial version commented above... I can't say anything about it, since I use the full version. (BTW... this reminds me I have to check for newer version)

M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.

Member 9167057

Depending on my current workflow. When it comes to standalone tools, Beyond Compare is my eternal love but in most cases, I'm using the built-in diff view of Visual Studio.

RustyF

A colleague recommended BeyondCompare (paid) ten years ago. It was by far the best I used so I bought a personal licence and have used it since at every employer. At the time it was two features that were unique at the time:- 1) manually align two chunks of code. Useful when only you know they are related 2) isolate a chunk of code that has been matched to something (but you know has no match) Both features are useful because a diff requires info that is no always deductible without input from the developer that made the changes.

Charl

Beyond Compare is the easiest I have used and super fast on large files - cross-platform too. Download Beyond Compare Free Trial[^]

RustyF

Btw, I don’t use a separate diff tool much these days as I’m usually running SublimeMerge which is a super fast Git GUI with built-in diff/merge. Again, I bought my own licence because its too tedious trying to justify a work purchase.

Paul Sanders the other one

kdiff3 (if no-one else has mentioned that yet). It's the dog's.

Paul Sanders. Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short - Henry David Thoreau Some of my best work is in the undo buffer.

JohaViss61

I use UltraCompare It is not free. It has some nice options: Binary compare 3-way compare Folder compare PDF, Word, Zip compare Table compare