CodeCompare vs Fork
When comparing CodeCompare vs Fork, the Slant community recommends CodeCompare for most people. In the question“What are the best visual merge tools for Git?” CodeCompare is ranked 9th while Fork is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose CodeCompare is:
It does not add a blank line in the other code-pane to show where code was added or deleted. It simply draws a line to show point out its location.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Graphical showing of where code is added or removed
It does not add a blank line in the other code-pane to show where code was added or deleted. It simply draws a line to show point out its location.
Pro Three-way comparison and automatic merging
Three comparison panes with horizontal and vertical layouts
- Integrates with version control systems as the merging tool for conflicting file revisions
- Non-conflicting changes are merged automatically
- Merging conflicts are highlighted
- One-click conflict resolution with a mouse button
Pro Supports comparing folders
Can diff entire folders.
Pro Integrated into Visual Studio
Can be used either as a stand-alone product or as the built in diff/merge tool for Visual Studio.
Pro Clear overview that marks only the changes, not every line with a change
Most compare tools mark every changed line with colour, making the code just a mess with thousands of coloured lines, while all that might be changed is a sign/character on each line. Code Compare draws boxes around each changed segment and highlights only the real change with a colour.
Pro Offers free version and paid for version
You get a lot more if you pay for the pro version.
Pro Fast and easy to use
Pro Comfortable when staging line-by-line changes
This feature is superior to the one that is implemented by SourceTree as it does not reset the file scroll view to the top of the file after each stage.
If you do feature-specific commits after some time of development - it's very important to be able to easily compose the commit from different line-based changes.
Pro Smart Diff is very handy
Pro Tabbed interface
Several repos can be open at once in individual tabs, so it's trivial to switch back and forth between them.
Pro Overall aesthetic
The GUI components are flawless on the Mac. It is expected to be a similar experience on Windows. Once you realize that you can filter by branch, your appreciation for the product will go up dramatically.
Pro Dark theme support
Pro Highlights the difference within a line
Pro Merge Conflict Resolution is great
Pro Comfortable keyboard shortcuts
Pro Repositories with uncommitted changes have a * next to their name
This is an update from previous versions.
Cons
Con No longer supported
Problematic with Visual Studio 2022. Semantic code comparison (its main selling point) does not support newer language variations.
Con Does not support custom comment markings
Some compilers use ";" to specify in-line commenting. But as that is not a common method, all added comments are marked as new code. So it becomes difficult to find changes in the functionality of the code.
Con Does not support move-detection
Very few programs detect move of blocks of code. Most just show deleted and added instead.
Con Free version is limited
Whereas there is a free version, it is missing a lot of great features that you're forced to pay for if you want.
Con Still a young client, thus not as feature rich
This git GUI client is quite young compared to industry old-timers like git-tower 2 or SourceTree. So it's not as feature rich as you'd like. Still a very capable client for a simple day-to-day work.
Con No Linux version
This git client is not compatible with Linux making the life harder for the developers that work on both, MacOS and some Linux distro.
Con Requires granting access to your git projects for the developer of the app
