Git Diff vs. Git Show: How Git Actually Compares Files

Published: 08 December 2025
on channel: CherryPick Academy

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Stop blindly committing code! In this video, we move beyond basic commands and look under the hood of git diff and git show.
Most developers get confused by the Staging Area or don't know how to look at the history of a specific file. Today, we treat Git like a forensic tool. We will visualize exactly how Git compares Tree Objects and Blobs to calculate the differences in your code.

This is video #13 in the 'Mastering Git: From Zero to Pro' series.
➡️ Watch the full, free course here: • Mastering Git: From Zero to Pro

In This Video, You Will Learn:
The internal logic of git diff (Working Directory vs. Staging).
Why git diff returns nothing after you git add.
How to use git show to inspect past commits.
Essential flags like --stat, --word-diff, and --name-only.
How to view a specific file from the past without restoring it.
Master these tools, and you will never wonder "What did I just change?" again.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 🧠 The Theory: git diff
03:21 Hands-on-session: git diff
11:03 🧠 The Theory: git show
11:59 Hands-on-session: git show

#git #gitconflict #gittutorial #github #gitdiff

Project structure:
main.py
text_utils.py
books
| chapter1.txt
| chapter2.txt

main.py:
main.py
import text_utils
import os

Define the file we want to analyze
FILENAME = 'chapter1.txt'
FILE_PATH = os.path.join('book', FILENAME)

def main():
"""Main function to run the text analysis."""
print(f"--- Running Writer-tool on: {FILENAME} ---")

try:
with open(FILE_PATH, 'r') as file:
content = file.read()
word_count = text_utils.count_words(content)
print(f"Word Count: {word_count}")

except FileNotFoundError:
print(f"Error: Could not find the file '{FILE_PATH}'.")

print("--- Analysis Complete ---")

if _name_ == '__main__':
main()

text_utils.py:
def count_words(text):
"""Counts the number of words in a given string."""
words = text.split()
return len(words)

def count_char(text):
return sum(not c.isspace() for c in text)

chapter1.txt:
It was a dark and stormy night.
You could see some light in the distance.
There was a small house at the end of the road.

chapter2.txt:
The plot thickens
The plot thickens as new secrets are revealed, making everything more confusing. What once seemed simple now feels complicated, and it’s hard to tell who can be trusted. Each new clue only brings more questions, pulling everyone deeper into the mystery.

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