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WinMerge: Comparing files
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1. WinMerge: Comparing files
Most programmers use one or more programs to compare two (or three) files for differences and similarities.

2. WinMerge
WinMergeI use the open source WinMerge on a regular basis for comparing two files (or groups of files in two folders) to see the similar and not-similar lines.

3. DiffMerge
DiffMergeAnother popular one is the open source DiffMerge. There are many more but I have used these two.

4. LCS
Most file comparator programs are based on the Longest Common Subsequence (LCS) problem (also used for comparing the similarity of DNA strands) and which is a dual problem to the SED (Shortest Edit Distance) algorithm (minimal changes needed to edit one file into the other file).

5. Algorithm
I have studied and implemented an efficient version of these dual algorithms, specifically Hirschberg's algorithm, 1975, for use in highly customized file comparisons related to programming.

6. Hirshberg's paper
Hirshberg page 1An accessible 3-page paper with which to get started is Hirshberg's original paper. Do an Internet search to find it. Hirshberg page 2 Hirshberg page 3

7. Useful options
I have found the following options to be useful for WinMerge.

8. Advanced usage
For advanced usage, regular expression pattern matching can be used to consider certain lines not different.

9. End of page

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