DIFF(1)

💖 DIFF(1) — from User Contributed Perl Documentation, bestie 💖

✨ NAME ✨

diff — compute intelligent differences between two files. that's the whole name, no cap 💅

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

okay so the whole synopsis is literally this, copy it exactly:

diff [-c | -C lines | -e | -f | -q | -s | -u | -U lines] file1 file2

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

The diff command compares file1 and file2, producing a listing on standard output describing how to convert one file to the other. it's giving “here's exactly what changed” energy. Various formats are available for representing the file changes. By default the output is in the traditional UNIX diff format. classic, iconic, default behavior.

🚨 Real talk: two directories cannot be compared. If either file1 or file2 is a directory, diff is applied to the non-directory file and a file of the same name within the directory. iykyk, don't try to make dirs happen.

🌈 OPTIONS 🌈

The following options are supported, periodt:

• -c — produce a context diff with 3 lines of context. cute little context moment.
• -C NUM — produce a context diff with NUM lines of context. you pick the number, bestie.
• -e — Create a script for the ed editor. old-school editor representation.
• -f — Like -e but in reverse order (output cannot be processed by ed). heads up: ed can't process this one.
• -u — Output a unified diff with 3 lines of context. unified diff stans rise.
• -U NUM — Output a unified diff with NUM lines of context. same vibe, your chosen NUM.
• -q — Print a message if the input files differ instead of displaying the difference. just the tea, not the whole diff.
• -s — Print a message if the input files are identical. By default no output is produced in this case. silence is the default when they match.

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Mark-Jason Dominus, "<mjd-perl-diff@plover.com>". author icon behavior.

Visit my diff/LCS web page at <http://www.plover.com/~mjd/perl/diff/>. go look, bestie.

okay bye bestie 🫶 — this page is perl v5.42.2, dated 2026-02-15, and yeah it's DIFF(1) 💖