How to get diff working like git-diff?

Question

This will do the +/- rather than < and >.

diff -u file1 file2

Since GNU diffutils 3.4 the flag --color has been added. Combining both makes the following:

diff --color -u file1 file2

The flag --color also takes an argument, valid options are never, always, or auto. Useful when you want to be more explicit on what needs to be done.

You can also use git diff --no-index -- A B (via manpage).

1. Install colordiff.

2. Update your ~/.colordiffrc (copying /etc/colordiffrc first, if necessary):

   # be more git-like:
   plain=off
   newtext=darkgreen
   oldtext=darkred
   diffstuff=darkcyan
   

3. Use colordiff -u file1 file2 for two files or colordiff -ruN path1 path2 for recursively comparing paths.

It's not exactly the same, but it's very close.

This is what I suggest and it's pretty close

diff -u FILE1 FILE2 | colordiff | less -R

• colordiff: You'll have to install this
  • brew install colordiff on my Mac.
  • port install colordiff on some Macs.
  • sudo apt-get install colordiff on Debian or Ubuntu
  • For other platforms, download the source from the main page or GitHub and follow the installation instructions
• -R: this tells Less to show colors instead of the raw codes.

I ultimately used -w because I didn't want to see whitespace diffs.

diff -w -u FILE1 FILE2 | colordiff | less -R

Edit: As suggested by @Ciprian Tomoiaga in the comment, you can make this a function and put it in your ~/.bashrc file too.

function gdiff () { diff -u $@ | colordiff | less -R; }