Open source diff tools

Posted on:October 31 2005

I really like open source. I use a lot of open source tools to develop software in my free time. And I write open source software on my own, and release it for free. But IMO there are some tools which are a lot better than any of the open source competitors, like Visual Studio. (Going to buy the next version as soon as it will be available in the next weeks.) And now it looks like I'll start using a commercial diff tool for open source development. I don't know if it is because I am now used to it or just because it is better. But currently I feel like the alternatives like KDiff3 or WinMerge really suck. Example: Comparing between Irrlicht-Spintz and Irrlicht is such a pain with these open source programs, so I just downloaded DiffDog and I got the differences how I needed them:

Comments:

hey, that tool looks interesting, going to try it out!

lxguy

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2005-10-31 22:19:00

I would have to agree with you here. When it comes to diff tools, Open Source is left wanting. My guess is because Open Source seems to (primarily) operate on the principle "if it's not broke, don't fix it". You CAN use the open source diff tools if you have to, but the commercial variants are much EASIER to use.

Oh, and Visual Studio really is a great IDE... It's a pity Microsoft are so focused on Windows as a cross-platform version of it would REALLY sell well.

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2005-11-01 00:52:00

Niko, have a look at CSDiff and SmartSynchronize.

matt

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2005-11-01 18:43:00

Did you try ExamDiff?

puh

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2005-11-01 20:13:00

I think they are all commercial too

lxguy

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2005-11-01 22:00:00

thanks for the tips. Smartsynchronize looks nice too. But I'm allergic to java programs. :)

niko

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2005-11-01 22:33:00

Nice, I hope this means you'll be able to get all the cool features I'm getting into IrrSpintz into Irrlicht :D I had/have the same issues diff'ing and merging files from new Irrlicht releases into IrrSpintz. I've always used P4 tools - http://www.perforce.com/ You can download the client and just install the diff / merge tools and not the p4 client. I use them as the default's for CVS at home and StarTeam at work, and it works great.

spintz

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2005-11-02 01:08:00

Beyond Compare is an excellent diff tool. It supports manual alignment.

lug

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2005-11-03 02:00:00

Hi,
I'm looking for an open source Diff tool Java applet that supports both raw text and XML files (to be embedded in a commercial product).
I can also consider commerical product.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Avi Kavas

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2005-11-29 11:03:00