1. A change listing, especially giving differences between (and
additions to) source code or documents (the term is often used in the
plural diffs). "Send me your diffs for the Jargon File!" Compare
{vdiff}.
2. Specifically, such a listing produced by the diff(1) command, esp.
when used as specification input to the patch(1) utility (which can
actually perform the modifications; see {patch}). This is a common
method of distributing patches and source updates in the Unix/C
world.
3. v. To compare (whether or not by use of automated tools on
machine-readable files); see also {vdiff}, {mod}.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {delta}{mod}{patch}{vdiff}]