Chapter 1. Introduction

Yet Another Diff Frontend?

+Several graphical diff tools exist. Why choose KDiff3? Let me say, why I wrote it. +

+KDiff3 started because I had to do a difficult merge. Merging is necessary when several +people work on the same files in a project. A merge can be somewhat automated, when the +merge-tool not only has the new modified files (called "branches"), but also the original file +(called "base"). The merge tool will automatically choose any modification that was only +done in one branch. When several contributors change the same lines, then the merge tool +detects a conflict which must be solved manually. +

+The merge then was difficult because one contributor had changed many things and corrected +the indentation in many places. Another contributor also had changed much text in the same file, +which resulted in several merge conflicts. +

+The tool I used then, only showed the changed lines, but not what had changed within these +lines. And there was no information about where only the indentation was changed. The merge +was a little nightmare. +

+So this was the start. The first version could show differences within a line and showed white space differences. +Later many other features were added to increase the usefulness. +

+For example if you want to compare some text quickly, then you can copy it to the clipboard and +paste it into either diff window. +

+A feature that required a big effort was the directory comparison and merge facility, which turned +the program almost into a full file browser. +

+I hope KDiff3 works for you too. Have fun! +

+Joachim Eibl (2003) +