Re: [BUG] diff algorithm selection issue

[ydirson@free.fr]

> > > When the config has diff.algorithm=patience set, "git diff
> > > --minimal" seems to
> > > be ignored, and does not give the same output as "git diff
> > > --diff-algorithm=minimal",
> > > but really the same as "git diff --diff-algorithm=patience".
> > 
> > As I wrote, that is absolutely the intended behaviour.
> > 
> > When patience and other algorithm learns how to trade cycles off
> > with output size, --minimal may make a difference, but unlike
> > "--diff-algorithm=minimal" that forces Myers algorithm, the
> > "--minimal" option should not change the underlying algorithm.
> 
> OK, so then the problem is just in the doc, where
> --diff-algorithm=minimal
> should rather be documented as something like:
> 
>  The basic greedy "myers" diff algorithm, spending extra time to make
>  sure the smallest possible diff is produced (equivalent to
>  `--diff-algorithm=myers --minimal`).
> 
> Or is it rather intended to be `--diff-algorithm=default --minimal`,
> whatever the default may be in the future ?

Now that I think about it, do we really want "minimal" as a valid choice
for --diff-algorithm, if it's not a choice of algorithm ?

In that case, we may need a separate config option line diff.algorithm.minimal
or maybe diff.algorithm.tuning ?

> 
> 
> As for the other flags, --patience and --histogram should probably
> documented as backward-compatibility aliases for --diff-algorithm=,
> right ?
> 
> 
> I'll send a formal patch if all of this sounds good.
> 
> 
> And as a last point, there would be the problem shown by patience
> diff
> on the commit referenced in my original post - If patience is still
> considered for promotion to default some day, I guess we wouldn't
> want
> it to make such a bad choice.
> 
> Best regards,
> --
> Yann
>