What diff Linux?
diff is a command-line utility that allows you to compare two files line by line. It can also compare the contents of directories. The diff command is most commonly used to create a patch containing the differences between one or more files that can be applied using the patch command.
What does diff return Linux?
diff stands for difference. This command is used to display the differences in the files by comparing the files line by line. Unlike its fellow members, cmp and comm, it tells us which lines in one file have is to be changed to make the two files identical.
What does diff return if there are no differences?
3 Answers. It depends on your diff command. Mine (GNU diffutils 3.0) says: An exit status of 0 means no differences were found, 1 means some differences were found, and 2 means trouble.
How do I diff a folder?
Diff has an option -r which is meant to do just that. diff can not only compare two files, it can, by using the -r option, walk entire directory trees, recursively checking differences between subdirectories and files that occur at comparable points in each tree.
What does the diff command do in Linux?
On Unix-like operating systems, the diff command analyzes two files and prints the lines that are different. In essence, it outputs a set of instructions for how to change one file to make it identical to the second file. This document covers the GNU / Linux version of diff. The diff software does not actually change the files it compares.
What is the difference between two LINUX files?
While writing program files or normal text files, programmers and writers sometimes want to know the difference between two files or two versions of the same file. When you compare two computer files on Linux, the difference between their contents is called a diff. This description was born out of a reference to the output of diff,
What does diff in CMP mean in Linux?
diff stands for difference. This command is used to display the differences in the files by comparing the files line by line. Unlike its fellow members, cmp and comm, it tells us which lines in one file have is to be changed to make the two files identical.
Do you need to install diffutils in Linux?
As such, most Linux distros come with a preinstalled copy of the diffUtils package. So, we can skip the installation if we already have the required binary file for diff. But, if it’s missing or if we need a different version of the package, then we might need to install it ourselves.