The development of software is considered a geeky profession since complex algorithms and comparison techniques are involved. As technology advances, a variety of tools have been developed that make software development particularly easy. There are several tools available on the market that can be used by developers to design and develop their applications more easily and effectively. A good example of such a tool is Code Compare Tool, which allows you to compare two codes side by side.
An automatic comparison of two codes in a file system is called a code comparison in computing. In most cases, these tools require at least two source code files as input, and they provide a statistical comparison of the two files as output. However, in the result, there are differences and similarities between the codes as well.
In addition, these tools are particularly helpful for software developers who otherwise have to manually compare the code sections, which is a quite challenging task in an era of tightening competition between software companies.
In a development environment, manual comparison can be very time-consuming and there are chances of human errors as well. In this article, you will discover reasons why you should use comparison tools while developing software.
A few of the benefits of using Code compare tools are as follows:
1. Saves Time. It takes a lot of time to make manual comparisons, which negatively affects the productivity of the organization or developer, or your boss can get angry if deadlines are missed. A code compare tool, however, helps you save time and meet all your deadlines by automating the process.
2. Faultless Comparisons. It is possible for manual comparisons of files to be inaccurate due to human error. Comparing each line of code and noting down similarities and differences is not an easy task. However, automated comparison tools not only compare files instantly but also present differences and similarities in an easily readable format without error.
3. Code Correction. The code of software often cannot be compiled or runs with errors due to small alterations or changes. The error usually occurs when an inexperienced programmer or someone else makes a mistake when checking in code. By using comparison tools, you can locate the exact location of the change in the code and correct it.
4. Version Comparison. Different versions of code can also be compared using code compare tools. As an example, a developer might want to see what modifications were made by other developers.
A simple comparison between their version of the file and the previous version will allow them to identify who wrote the code or what the impact of removing the code will be on the overall program.
5. Version Merging. Using the Code compare tool, you can merge versions as well. It has been mentioned previously that several developers are working simultaneously on the same application.
There may be a situation where a developer needs code from another developer to include in their applications. Thankfully, Code compare tools offer the feature of merging files to help solve this problem.
It is possible to locate the differences between two files and merge them into one file, resulting in a file that contains both files’ code, but no sections have been duplicated. Thus, the developer doesn’t have to copy and paste code from other files.
6. Folder Comparison. There are few code comparison tools that also offer folder comparison capabilities. Besides comparing files, you can also compare files within a folder as well as a folder with another folder.
7. Reporting Capability. By using code comparison tools, you can generate cool reports. This report contains graphical representations of the statistical results of your comparison. These reports display several aspects of comparison, such as similarity percentages, and the number, and location of different lines. An easy way to read or modify code is to use reports.
8. Integration into IDEs. In most IDEs (Integrated Development Environments), there is an option to integrate code comparison tools. By using these extensions, developers don’t have to open a separate application to compare code but can make comparisons within their development environment.
9. Multiple Format Comparisons. It is not necessary to compare these tools in only one format. The tool compares word, pdf, HTML, XML, and other formats. The tool enables all-in-one comparisons.
10. Commenting Capability. A code comparison tool often offers the option to comment about differences between two files by adding your comments. Developers can easily recall what changes were made in the previous versions by looking back at the comparison report without having to dig into the details.
Conclusion
Considering the above details, it can be concluded that code compare tools have become indispensable in software development organizations. In order to accelerate their development process and increase product quality, organizations are employing better and faster comparison tools.
