inconsistent order of --diff-algorithm variants in man pages
2 messages between Jun 8, 2026 and Jun 8, 2026, from Vincent Lefevre, Junio C Hamano.
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In Documentation/diff-algorithm-option.adoc, which is used by the git-blame(1) and git-diff(1) man pages:
`--diff-algorithm=(patience|minimal|histogram|myers)`::
Choose a diff algorithm. The variants are as follows:
+
--
`default`;;
`myers`;;
The basic greedy diff algorithm. Currently, this is the default.
`minimal`;;
Spend extra time to make sure the smallest possible diff is
produced.
`patience`;;
Use "patience diff" algorithm when generating patches.
`histogram`;;
This algorithm extends the patience algorithm to "support
low-occurrence common elements".
--I think that using the same order in the --diff-algorithm line and in the description that follows would be better, i.e.
--diff-algorithm=(myers|minimal|patience|histogram)
FYI, the text was added in 07924d4d50e5304fb53eb60aaba8aef31d4c4e5e in 2013, but without any explanation on this difference.
--
Vincent Lefèvre <vincent@vinc17.net> - Web: <https://www.vinc17.net/>
100% accessible validated (X)HTML - Blog: <https://www.vinc17.net/blog/>
Work: CR INRIA - computer arithmetic / Pascaline project (LIP, ENS-Lyon)
Re: inconsistent order of --diff-algorithm variants in man pages
Vincent Lefevre <vincent@vinc17.net> writes:
Show 27 quoted lines
> In Documentation/diff-algorithm-option.adoc, which is used by the
> git-blame(1) and git-diff(1) man pages:
>
> `--diff-algorithm=(patience|minimal|histogram|myers)`::
> Choose a diff algorithm. The variants are as follows:
> +
> --
> `default`;;
> `myers`;;
> The basic greedy diff algorithm. Currently, this is the default.
> `minimal`;;
> Spend extra time to make sure the smallest possible diff is
> produced.
> `patience`;;
> Use "patience diff" algorithm when generating patches.
> `histogram`;;
> This algorithm extends the patience algorithm to "support
> low-occurrence common elements".
> --
>
> I think that using the same order in the --diff-algorithm line and
> in the description that follows would be better, i.e.
>
> --diff-algorithm=(myers|minimal|patience|histogram)
>
> FYI, the text was added in 07924d4d50e5304fb53eb60aaba8aef31d4c4e5e
> in 2013, but without any explanation on this difference.
I think this is meant to list them as equals without any precedence or preference order, so it is understandable that nobody paid much attention. Until now, that is.
I agree that being consistent between these two places makes tons of sense. I just do not know what the right ordering should be. When listing a set of equals without any precedence or preference order, the most easy to see to new readers is alphabetical, except that the built-in default (myers) is a head above among other equals, so it does make sense to present it first.