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Re: cmp/diff


From: Bruno Haible
Subject: Re: cmp/diff
Date: Sat, 26 Dec 2020 19:49:27 +0100
User-agent: KMail/5.1.3 (Linux/4.4.0-197-generic; KDE/5.18.0; x86_64; ; )

Hi Simon,

> > 'cmp' and 'diff' are among the programs that a 'configure' script and a 
> > Makefile
> > can assume to be present, see the GNU Coding Standards
> > <https://www.gnu.org/prep/standards/html_node/Utilities-in-Makefiles.html>.
> 
> Hi Bruno.  Thanks for the pointer!  I believe this resolves my concern.
> 
> It would be nice to reduce that set of tools.

Well, both 'cmp' and 'diff' are part of POSIX:
https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/cmp.html
https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/diff.html

They have been listed at this place in the GNU Coding Standards since
at least 2004.

But, of course, you are free to write to
https://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/bug-standards

> Is there any automated purpose for diff other than a fancy cmp?

Makefile rules are written both for automated execution and for the
developers of a package. While for the automated execution of a
unit test, "cmp expected.out actual.out" is sufficient, for a developer,
"diff expected.out actual.out" is definitely nicer. Especially if the
log of the unit test is created on a machine on which the developer has
no direct access (such as a contributor's machine or a build farm),
"diff expected.out actual.out" has information that is essential for
debugging.

Bruno




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