Add Better Diffs With Delta as a Git TIL

README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pairing with smart people at Hashrocket.
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://crafty-builder-6996.ck.page/e169c61186).
 
-_1538 TILs and counting..._
+_1539 TILs and counting..._
 
 ---
 
@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@ _1538 TILs and counting..._
 - [Add Only Tracked Files From A Directory](git/add-only-tracked-files-from-a-directory.md)
 - [Amend Author Of Previous Commit](git/amend-author-of-previous-commit.md)
 - [Auto-Squash Those Fixup Commits](git/auto-squash-those-fixup-commits.md)
+- [Better Diffs With Delta](git/better-diffs-with-delta.md)
 - [Caching Credentials](git/caching-credentials.md)
 - [Change The Start Point Of A Branch](git/change-the-start-point-of-a-branch.md)
 - [Check How A File Is Being Ignored](git/check-how-a-file-is-being-ignored.md)

git/better-diffs-with-delta.md

@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+# Better Diffs With Delta
+
+A `git diff` from the command line is relatively bare bones. It shows you
+removed lines and added lines that make up a changeset with the former text in
+red and the later text in green. All other contextual text is in white. I've
+found this to be good enough for most of the life of my git usage. I've been
+missing out though.
+
+By using [`delta`](https://github.com/dandavison/delta) as the pager and diff
+filter for `git`, I get a bunch of nice visual improvements.
+
+- Removals and additions are red and green shaded backgrounds
+- Syntax highlighting for most languages
+- Highlight specific part of a line that has changed
+- Visual spacing and layout is clearer
+
+To get all of this, all I had to do was install `delta`:
+
+```bash
+$ brew install delta
+```
+
+And then add `delta` as both the _core_ pager and `diffFilter` in my global git
+config file:
+
+```
+[core]
+	pager = delta
+[interactive]
+	singleKey = true # unrelated, but nice to have
+	diffFilter = delta --color-only
+```
+
+It's also recommended that you use `zdiff3` for your merge conflict style,
+which I already had:
+
+```
+[merge]
+	conflictstyle = zdiff3
+```
+
+Once you have ths all configred, try a `git diff` or `git add --patch` and see
+how much more visual info you get.