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What should semantic diffs highlight: The change or its effect? (semanticdiff.com)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/programming@programming.dev
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[–] 25 points 2 years ago* (1 child)

"" to '' … There is nothing to highlight for SemanticDiff.

Really? I definitely want to see that. I want to be deliberate about my code. I am not only targeting compiled code. I am also targeting developers through maintainable code.

I'm surprised they did not list an alternative that would be my preference: Highlight the entire string. The f prefix changes the entire text value type. I would like the `f´ to be highlighted strongly, and string it changes the interpretation of weakly, and the placeholder variable more strongly again.

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  • [–] [S] 5 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    Many code formatters decide whether to use " or ' based on some configuration and whether the default one would require escaping. So if you are using such a code formatter, this is no longer a deliberate choice unless you explicitly override the behavior with annotations.

    I am not sure whether your solution of using a less intense color for the unchanged part of the string would make it clearer. It is just more similar to other diff tools that highlight the whole line with a less intense color if it contains changes.

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  • [–] 4 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Then with a code formatter you definitely want to show this change. In a normal usage the code formatter should ensure that this kind of diff can't happen, then it's useful to see if it was not used during a code review.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago*

    would make it clearer

    Would make what clearer?

    If I change a string to a raw string or an interpolated string, it is a semantic change on the entire string, even if it leads to consequential changes only on subsections of it. The next time or additional changes I make must take different semantics into account.

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  • [–] 1 point 2 years ago

    If the formatting configuration forces one specific style then that is the deliberate choice; to have that one.

    If there is no uniform single string quoting it is useful to differentiate between them; for example if for normal strings ' is preferred while for specific cases where escaping characters like \n is required, " must be used.

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