
Diff tools on Mac OS X - an overview - speter
http://www.git-tower.com/blog/diff-tools-mac/
======
wcdolphin
As a Kaleidoscope user, I must say I am mostly unimpressed. While beautiful,
you cannot edit a file in place while merging. Because of this fatal flaw, I
find the program significantly less useful.

Further, I cannot remove a file from the diff or 'checkout --' the file, which
is common for my workflow.

work -> X local commits to track progress -> diff with master -> cleanup into
Y logical commits -> diff with master

Correct me if I am wrong, or if my flow seems weird.

~~~
mcmillion
You can edit the merged file in place while merging.

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Watabou
I really like Kaleidoscope and have been using it for quite some time now,
since it first launched on the MAS. It's a very pricey but I think it's worth
it. It's a great program, looks good, makes git diffs really easy and launches
in a second on my Mac. It also provides integration with services like git so
you can just do git difftool and have Kaleidoscope launch with the diff
between the local and remote. For big hairy merges, this is a lifesaver!

I also use vimdiff sometimes and it's pretty great as well, with the advantage
of editing a file inside vim.

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FeloniousHam
While the UI is a Windows-style mess, nothing beats Beyond Compare. It's far
and away the most useful tool I have outside of the IDE (particularly since we
use Perforce). I pine for a Mac port, even if they did nothing to clean it up
visually.

~~~
Splendor
Agreed. I've tried at least 8 different diff tools and nothing beats Beyond
Compare for me either.

~~~
cweiss
+1 on this. Beyond Compare is one of the few reasons I keep a Windows VM
around these days, it's just that damn good.

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malandrew
Really looked forward to this, but super disappointed by the inconclusive
conclusion.

    
    
        "Diff & merge apps are amongst the most underestimated 
        tools. But a good one can be really helpful in a lot of 
        situations. Try one of the above and see for yourself!"
    

People like to read these articles to save time. After spending time with all
of them, if there was one that was the best overall, say so. If it was a tie
between two, say so. If the best one was paid, but a free one was also
excellent and therefore a better value, say so. But don't cop out of giving a
comparative review at the end.

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quarterto
I've been using Meld [1] via XQuartz. It's not pretty (and getting it working
is an absolute pain) but god _damn_ does it get the job done. Nothing I've
tried is nearly as functional. And it's open source!

[1] [http://meldmerge.org/](http://meldmerge.org/)

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kyrra
While it isn't pretty KDiff3 is still a decent diff program. I've mainly only
used it when I have to do merges between 2 versions of a project.

I used Araxis Merge at a previous job for a bit and really like it. But back
then (2005?) their shortcut keys on Windows were atrocious and could not be
customized.

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od2m
Anyone know of a of an XML aware merge app for OS X? Something akin to Project
Merge?

