Looking for Mac equivalent of Beyond Compare?

[markw10]

I am starting to develop a website using CRE Loaded and the manual suggest that Beyond Compare, a code comparison program, is used. It is only available for Windows though. Is there a similar program for the Mac?

[zigoto]

Try BBEdit from Bare Bones Software. It is a very powerful html and text editor, with a wide feature range and solid reputation.
http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/
There's even a (full-featured I think) demo version available for download.

From the top menu, select Search > Find Differences...
then you just select the two files you want to compare the code of, determine via a single screen to what extent you want to perform the comparison (ex: omit spaces, curly quotes, etc.), and then the software lets you view the code of both files side by side with the ability to make changes directly to either one in its window, and copy the changes to the other, etc.
Very convenient...

There might be other programs around for code comparison on the mac, but this one rocks...

Hope this helps, zigoto

[Gelfin]

Araxis Merge is really impressive, but is insanely expensive, especially if you want the three-way merge available only in the Professional edition. I'd only recommend it if you can get your company to buy it as a business expense.

(Incidentally, on Windows, I use Beyond Compare only because I can't justify paying for Araxis Merge.)

[Trip.Tucker]

In case anyone revisits this thread looking for a great file comparison tool, Changes is pretty damn slick. Very, very close to Beyond Compare.

Site: http://changesapp.com/

[bchertov]

I was an avid fan of BeyondCompare on Windows as well, and was casting about of a full featured, but not expensive Mac equivalent as well. I finally found DeltaWalker by Deltopia (http://www.deltopia.com/) and its really good!

It's fast, configurable and intuitive and only $40 for personal use.

[chrisbloom7]

I found it hard to live without BeyondCompare after switching to the Mac, so I installed CrossOver (http://www.codeweavers.com/) and then ran BC3 through that. There are a few layout bugs, but it otherwise runs as expected.

[jazo]

I tried them all - Araxis Merge, Changes, DeltaWalker, even Guiffy. Araxis for the Mac is solid, as is their Windows version, but price, limited folder sync and lack of FTP support were all a showstopper for me. Changes remains under-featured with weak folder comparison and no 3-way comparison. I've owned BC forever, but running it over CrossOver is way too much hassle, even if CrossOver were free, which it isn't.

DeltaWalker is still the one for me - I've owned it for more than two years and while there is still a thing or two I wish it did, I'm not looking back. I catch myself using it almost exclusively on Windows now, something I didn't think would happen after having used BC for almost a decade.

[Detektiv-Pinky]

What is wrong with FileMerge?

To be found amongst the Apple developer tools - free!

[steerpikegg]

DiffMerge is great and it's free

[jazo]

There's nothing wrong with either FileMerge or DiffMerge. It all depends on what you use the tool for. If all you need is visualizing file diffs FileMerge does okay (it has an obscure folder diff capability, but it's hard to label that useful).

For a free app, DiffMerge has a good deal of features - folder comparison, 3-way comparison. I was using it for a few months and I have no major complaints. I found it more useful than some of the paid ones I've tried - Guiffy, even Changes (although I liked the Changes UI somewhat better).

So why DeltaWalker or Araxis then... for me it comes to certain features that only these two have and to attention to detail. I need FTP/SFTP file and folder comparison (DeltaWalker only), I need 3-way, I need HTML reports. I think that the most natural way to visualize folder differences is to you the same tree structures that Finder or Explorer use and the lists that DiffMerge uses tire quickly both my eyes and my brain.

I care about details, performance, stability, looks - don't we all or why else we'd be using Macs - and to me it's obvious that all three - BC, Araxis and DeltaWalker - have put more efforts in these areas than the other guys. It's great, for us, to have this level of competition!

I'm a developer and for me, a good diff tool is second only to a good compiler/dev environment and a good source control system. I'd like to be free too, but if for the price of a few trips to the coffee shop I can get a tool I can trust and even enjoy using - I have absolutely no problem with that.

[ClassicMac1]

I was also looking for Beyond Comapre on OS X. Reading through the Scooter Software forums they claim in 2008 that they are interested in doing an OS X version but don't have the resources. It is frustrating to see that they don't place much importance on the Macintosh platform.

Luckily I came across DeltaWalker. Give it a try as there is a free trial download. Not only did they release an OS X version years ago but they have been releasing updates adding new features.

Besides the diff file feature I also find the folder compare feature invaluable. I have had times where my SoftRaid mirror splits and I'm not sure which has the most current files. The folder compare gives me piece of mind that I am rebuilding using the drive with my most recent files. Give it a try. Let's support the companies that support the Macintosh platform.

[SJHoward]

I too was looking for BC on the MAC but no luck. I used the 30 day trial of DeltaWalker and now use it for my network folder syncing. It is easy to use and setup. I do not use the advance merge features but I was a developer and can see the power in the tool. Folder sync has worked perfectly for me to push music or photos to my multiple computers.

[kfury77]

I found this thread while searching for news of Beyond Compare for OS X and found that Scooter Software have said that the app is in development.

http://www.scootersoftware.com/support.php?zz=kb_mac

Great news!

[thewitt]

BBEdit is the bomb on the Mac. Great text editor as well for any application or web work.

[Mr. EMan]

Originally Posted by thewitt

BBEdit is the bomb on the Mac. Great text editor as well for any application or web work.

I use BBEdit for a lot of things, for websites to writing my code.

I was just trying to do a compare with a parsed output of a log file, one from Python on the Mac and one from Visual C on Windows, a bit over 10,000 lines. BBEdit puked on it, wouldn't even give me an output (Find Differences...).

Beyond Compare 2.5.x (Win) felt like the fastest and I liked its output. This was using VMWare Fusion and Win7 on my 2011 15" MBP.

I can't live without Total Commander on Windows. Its Quick Compare, which I use all the time, had terrible results. My buddy's Visual C output was odd, so it couldn't handle it.

DeltaWalker (v1.9.8) did a decent job, but was a bit pokier than BeyondCompare. I wish it would give a better indication that it's doing something.

Kaleidoscope (v1.1.6) totally puked on this as well. It died trying to load the second file.

FileMerge (XCode) also never came back after trying to load the second file.

That was all I tried this morning for a relatively straight forward compare. I think I may spring for DeltaWalker, since it's at least Mac native and actually worked. I like its output window better than BBEdit's.

[edit: I didn't try Changes since some comments out there suggested that it isn't being actively worked on anymore. I don't know if that's true, however. I also didn't try Araxis Merge because it's a bit more expensive ($129).]

[mitchhf]

I just tried Wine and WineBottler and it works!!! So that's an option for the mac.