Feature idea: side-by-side (split) diff view (builds on #2997)
- Dominant language
- Rust
- Stars
- 22.5k
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- 773
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Description
## Summary
An opt-in **side-by-side (split)** diff view for the diff component, toggled with `Shift+V`, alongside the existing unified view. It's **view-only** and **defaults to unified**, so nothing changes unless you turn it on. It lives in the shared diff component, so all diff hosts (status, compare-commits, inspect-commit, file-history) get it with **no host changes**.
This **builds on #2997** (syntax highlighting in the diff view): it reuses that PR's per-line highlight cache and change-status styling. So it's naturally a follow-up rather than a standalone change, and I wanted to check whether you'd welcome it before opening a PR.
## Motivation
Unified diffs interleave `-`/`+` lines, which can be hard to scan for edits and reflows. A side-by-side view puts the old text on the left and the new on the right, aligned, which many people find easier to read at a glance.
## What it adds
- **`Shift+V`** toggles split ⟷ unified (persisted per-repo; default unified). The command hint shows the next state ("Split view" / "Unified view").
- **View-only:** staging and hunk-jumping stay unified-only; movement, copy, edit, and syntax highlighting work in both. Deletions align on the left, additions on the right (paired by position); context and hunk headers span both columns.
- **Reuses existing data:** a small pure `build_split_rows(&FileDiff)` state machine over the existing `FileDiff`; the syntax-highlight cache from #2997 maps for free (left cell → old side, right → new). **No new dependencies.**
- Narrow-terminal fallback (a centered hint below a minimum column width); binary/empty diffs fall back to unified.
## Dependency on #2997 (heads-up)
Split reuses the syntax-highlight machinery from #2997 (`diff_highlight` cache, `DiffHighlightStyle` tint, a shared span-clipping helper), so it applies cleanly on top of #2997 but not on `master` alone. If you're open to the feature, the natural options are: (a) I open it as a follow-up PR once #2997 merges, (b) I stack it on #2997, or (c) fold it into #2997 — whichever you prefer.
## Status
Implemented on my fork; `make check` is green (fmt + clippy `--all-features` + nextest + tombi + deny; 343 tests, incl. 12 new for the row-alignment model). Defaulting to unified keeps the snapshot tests unchanged. Happy to open the PR in whatever form suits you.
Contributor guide
Research direction
Review #2997 and the shared diff component first, especially the mentioned diff_highlight cache, DiffHighlightStyle tint, and span-clipping helper. Confirm the split view remains opt-in with unified as the default, preserves unified-only staging and hunk-jumping, handles narrow-terminal, binary, and empty diffs, and passes make check including the row-alignment tests.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- git, rust
- Domain
- cli
- Issue type
- Feature
- Difficulty
- 5/5
- Estimated time
- Over a week
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 35/100