document updated 8 months ago, on Feb 12, 2024
Instead of looking at commits first, start by looking at a specific file, perhaps across commits.
Across several commits
How do you list the history for a specific file?
git log -- $FILE
How do you view a list of files modified by one or more commits?
There are several ways to do this, but my favorite — git log --name-only
How do you look at the diff for just one file?
git diff <revision> <path>
For example — git diff b0d14a4 foobar.txt
Or:
git diff <revision1>:<path> <path>
For example — git diff b0d14a4:foobar.txt foobar.txt
Within one commit
How do you look at a specific version of a specific file?
git show $REV:$FILE