Git is a highly efficient version control system used in software development that allows multiple people to work on a project at the same time without overwriting each other’s changes. Git’s diff command can be particularly useful for comparing different versions of files, commits, or even tags. To compare differences between two tags, you can use the git diff command.
Tags in git are references to specific points in your Git history. They are typically used to capture a point in history that is used for a marked version release (i.e., v1.0).
Let’s assume you have two tags: v1.0 and v2.0, and you want to see the differences between these two tags. Here are the steps you would follow:
Step 1: Open your terminal and navigate to your git repository.
cd path/to/your/git/repositoryStep 2: Run the git diff command with the two tags you want to compare:
git diff v1.0 v2.0This command will display the differences between the code tagged at v1.0 and the code tagged at v2.0. This includes all changes: additions are marked with a ‘+’, deletions with a ‘-‘, and unchanged lines are shown for context. The changes are typically displayed in a “unified diff” format.
If you’re interested in knowing just the filenames that changed, you can add --name-only to the command:
git diff --name-only v1.0 v2.0This will display only the names of files that have changed between the two tags.
If you want a summary of the changes (including how many lines were changed), you can add --stat:
git diff --stat v1.0 v2.0Please note that tag names are case-sensitive and need to be provided exactly as created.
Git’s diff command is a powerful tool that can help you see what changes have been made at different points in your project’s history. By understanding how to use it, you can gain a deeper understanding of your codebase’s evolution.
