Diff
A diff is the textual difference between two versions of code. It represents the added, removed and modified lines.
Diffs are a staple of CVS systems. They are important when reviewing a PR, as they represent only the changed lines.
Diffs are used to identify modifications, although they fail at identifying exhaustively all impacts in the code.
Diff is also the name of the software that calculates the difference between two files.
A diff is not always unique: two files’ difference may be represented by two distinct diffs, or more.
See Also
- The Myers diff algorithm: part 1
- How Does Git Find Code Changes?: diff Algorithm, LCS, and Myers Explained