The git diff --diff-filter command is a powerful tool that lets you filter the output of git diff. This command is used to view the differences between files and directories in Git repositories, and the --diff-filter option allows users to limit the kinds of changes that are shown.
The --diff-filter option takes a letter code that specifies the kind of change you’re interested in. Here are the different change types that you can filter by:
A: File addedC: File copiedD: File deletedM: File modifiedR: File renamedT: File type changed (e.g., regular file, symlink, submodule)U: File is unmerged. You will see this after a merge conflict.X: “Unknown” change typeB: File’s pairing Broken
You can use these codes singly (e.g., git diff --diff-filter=A) to show only those changes, or you can combine them (e.g., git diff --diff-filter=AC) to show more than one kind of change.
By default, all these changes would be shown, but with the --diff-filter option you can tailor the output to your needs. This is particularly useful in large projects where you may only be interested in certain types of changes.
To illustrate, let’s say you’re working on a project and you’ve made a lot of changes, including adding new files, modifying existing ones, and deleting some. Now you want to view only the files you’ve added. You can use the following command:
git diff --diff-filter=AThis command will output a diff that includes only the files that have been added.
Or suppose you want to see the differences in the files that have been modified, you can use the following command:
git diff --diff-filter=MThis command will output a diff showing only the files that have been modified.
In summary, the git diff --diff-filter command is a powerful and flexible tool for managing and understanding changes in your Git repositories. Its ability to filter changes makes it a significant command when working with large codebases or when you’re interested in only specific types of changes.
