patch < diff

To create a patch, one could run the following command in a shell:

$ diff -u oldFile newFile > mods.diff  # -u tells diff to output unified diff format

 

diff的原理是什么？即LCS(Longest Common Subsequence，最长公共自序列)算法，复杂度为o(M*N)（m=line of oldFile，n=line of newFile，将每一行看作一个序列的一个元素）

 

To apply a patch, one could run the following command in a shell:

$ patch < mods.diff

Patches can be undone, or reversed, with the '-R' option:

 $ patch -R < mods.diff

抄了wiki这么多，其实是想说"unified diff format"。首先是中文翻译，什么“统一输出格式”,“统一区别格式”，我觉得都不好，在我自作主张给他取名字之前，先看看它的一个通俗解释。

再抄一段，算了，请移步：http://www.blogjava.net/ivanwan/archive/2005/08/04/9261.html

 

故我称之为“UFO”，即Unified diFf fOrmat 。