I’d like to introduce jsdifflib, an in-browser visual diff tool and library:
In the process of building a new web-based document-centric service, it became clear that I needed a good in-browser visual diff tool. I’ve become friends with a number of desktop “thick client” diff tools over the years, but the interface to this new service is 100% through the browser, and all those old friends aren’t amenable to diffing web-based resources.
Some web searches didn’t turn up anything particularly promising. I was looking for an in-browser diff tool, preferably in Javascript (but I suppose Flash would have done the trick, too). I found a few not-so-great Java applets that would do the bare minimum, but nothing ideal. There were a few javascript diff algorithm implementations (like this), but nothing that could be considered a complete solution.
So, I built jsdifflib over a weekend in February of 2007.
I hope you find jsdifflib useful. On its page, you’ll find some more background information, implementation details, examples, a live demo, and free downloads (with a BSD license).
2007/02/21
