Code Compare is a powerful tool for file and folder comparison and merging.

Code Compare is an advanced visual file and folder comparison tool that can be integrated into a range of version control systems and, thus, enhance change tracking and synchronization. It integrates with all popular source control systems: TFS, SVN, Git, Mercurial, and Perforce. Code Compare is shipped both as a standalone file diff tool and a Visual Studio extension.

Integration with Visual Studio brings you all possibilities of Visual Studio editor and allows you to perform all operations in one project context. This helps you to develop and merge simultaneously.

Standalone version of Code Compare allows you to work with your sources without any additional environments and pre-installations, that provides you higher application performance. Also, standalone version of file diff tool supports the most popular programming languages (Java, Delphi, PHP, etc.)

Code Compare can be easily integrated into any version control system that supports external comparators. You can set up Code Compare as a comparison and merge tool with the help of the command line.

Text Comparison and Merging

• Colored blocks for inserted, deleted, and modified text.
• Detailed highlights of changes within lines.
• Collapsing of unchanged regions of text (Pro-feature).
• Point-and-click merging with a mouse.
• Editing files on the fly.
• Merging shortcuts for advanced users.The ability to diff and merge files is a necessity for every developer. This can be especially troublesome when trying to compare differences between files containing structured data, such as XML.The video tutorial below provides an explanation on how to compare XML files – and more – using both XMLSpy and DiffDog. These powerful utilities perform diff and merge operations in an XML-aware manner, which reduces the number of false positives seen when comparing files.

  A diff file describes the differences between two versions of a file of a database or software module. The usage of diff files limits traffic on your company’s network because diff files occupy less space than entire files of databases and software modules. If the Downloading diff files feature is enabled on a distribution point, the diff files are saved on this distribution point. As a result, devices that take updates from this distribution point can use the saved diff files to update their databases and software modules.

  Figuring out how a document has changed from one version to another isn’t always the simplest task. It’s further complicated when that document is longer or more complex, like source code.

  The tools collected here can help you analyze and compare your documents and files, as well as merge them if necessary. There are tools to compare everything from Word docs to WAV files, and everything in between (including plenty that support syntax highlighting for code). Some are free and some are paid, and there are options available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.