What Exactly Does "Git Diff --Base" Do?

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The "git diff --base" command is used to show the difference between the common ancestor of the current branch and the branch being merged in. This command compares the changes made in the current branch with the changes made in the branch being merged, showing the differences between the two versions of the files. This can be helpful in identifying conflicts or discrepancies between the two branches before finalizing the merge.


What exactly does git diff --base compare?

git diff --base compares the changes between the current working directory and the common ancestor of the current branch and the branch that was merged or rebased into it. It shows the differences between the current state of the code and the state of the code before the branches diverged. This can be useful for understanding the changes that were made in the branch that was merged into the current branch.


How to suppress certain types of changes in git diff --base?

To suppress certain types of changes in git diff --base, you can use the --ignore-space-at-eol, --ignore-space-change, --ignore-whitespace, and --word-diff-regex options.

  1. --ignore-space-at-eol: This option ignores changes in whitespace at the end of a line. git diff --base --ignore-space-at-eol
  2. --ignore-space-change: This option ignores changes in the amount of whitespace between words. git diff --base --ignore-space-change
  3. --ignore-whitespace: This option ignores changes in whitespace altogether. git diff --base --ignore-whitespace
  4. --word-diff-regex: This option allows you to specify a regular expression that matches the boundaries of a word. You can use this option to ignore specific types of changes based on the pattern. git diff --base --word-diff-regex=


You can combine these options to further customize the git diff --base output and suppress certain types of changes based on your requirements.


What is the default base commit in git diff --base?

The default base commit in git diff --base is the common ancestor commit of the current commit and its parent commit. This is determined automatically by Git when comparing the changes between the two commits.

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