如果 git status 命令的输出对于你来说过于模糊，你想知道具体修改了什么地方，可以用 git diff 命令。 稍后我们会详细介绍 git diff，你可能通常会用它来回答这两个问题：当前做的哪些更新还没有暂存？ 有哪些更新已经暂存起来准备好了下次提交？ 尽管 git status 已经通过在相应栏下列出文件名的方式回答了这个问题，git diff 将通过文件补丁的格式显示具体哪些行发生了改变。
假如再次修改 README 文件后暂存，然后编辑 CONTRIBUTING.md 文件后先不暂存， 运行 status 命令将会看到：
$ git status
On branch master
Changes to be committed:
(use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
modified: README
Changes not staged for commit:
(use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
(use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
modified: CONTRIBUTING.md要查看尚未暂存的文件更新了哪些部分，不加参数直接输入 git diff：
$ git diff
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 8ebb991..643e24f 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ branch directly, things can get messy.
Please include a nice description of your changes when you submit your PR;
if we have to read the whole diff to figure out why you're contributing
in the first place, you're less likely to get feedback and have your change
-merged in.
+merged in. Also, split your changes into comprehensive chunks if your patch is
+longer than a dozen lines.
If you are starting to work on a particular area, feel free to submit a PR
that highlights your work in progress (and note in the PR title that it's此命令比较的是工作目录中当前文件和暂存区域快照之间的差异， 也就是修改之后还没有暂存起来的变化内容。
若要查看已暂存的将要添加到下次提交里的内容，可以用 git diff --cached 命令。（Git 1.6.1 及更高版本还允许使用 git diff --staged，效果是相同的，但更好记些。）
$ git diff --staged
diff --git a/README b/README
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..03902a1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+My Project请注意，git diff 本身只显示尚未暂存的改动，而不是自上次提交以来所做的所有改动。 所以有时候你一下子暂存了所有更新过的文件后，运行 git diff 后却什么也没有，就是这个原因。
像之前说的，暂存 CONTRIBUTING.md 后再编辑，运行 git status 会看到暂存前后的两个版本。 如果我们的环境（终端输出）看起来如下：
$ git add CONTRIBUTING.md
$ echo '# test line' >> CONTRIBUTING.md
$ git status
On branch master
Changes to be committed:
(use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
modified: CONTRIBUTING.md
Changes not staged for commit:
(use "git add <file>..." to update what will be committed)
(use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
modified: CONTRIBUTING.md现在运行 git diff 看暂存前后的变化：
$ git diff
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 643e24f..87f08c8 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -119,3 +119,4 @@ at the
## Starter Projects
See our [projects list](https://github.com/libgit2/libgit2/blob/development/PROJECTS.md).
+# test line然后用 git diff --cached 查看已经暂存起来的变化：（--staged 和 --cached 是同义词）
$ git diff --cached
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 8ebb991..643e24f 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -65,7 +65,8 @@ branch directly, things can get messy.
Please include a nice description of your changes when you submit your PR;
if we have to read the whole diff to figure out why you're contributing
in the first place, you're less likely to get feedback and have your change
-merged in.
+merged in. Also, split your changes into comprehensive chunks if your patch is
+longer than a dozen lines.
If you are starting to work on a particular area, feel free to submit a PR
that highlights your work in progress (and note in the PR title that it's
看懂git diff的输出结果：
下面是一个通常的git diff的输出结果：
$ git diff README.md
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d29ab50..7e42b29 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -37,3 +37,4 @@
You can get it using command `hostname` in your remote robot:
$ hostname
+Enjoy it!
第一部分表示为你使用的git格式的diff：
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md第二部分表示两个版本的git哈希值（index区域的d29ab50对象，与工作目录区域的7e42b29对象进行比较），最后的六位数字是对象的模式（普通文件，644权限）。
index d29ab50..7e42b29 100644第三部分表示进行比较的两个文件：
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md"---"表示变动前的版本，"+++"表示变动后的版本。
第四部分表示变动的位置，用两个@作为起首和结束：
@@ -37,3 +37,4 @@前面的"-37,3"分成三个部分：减号表示第一个文件（即index区域的d29ab50对象），"37"表示第37行，"3"表示连续3行。合在一起，就表示下面是第一个文件从第37行开始的连续3行。同样的，"+37,4"表示变动后，成为第二个文件从第37行开始的连续4行。
最后一部分是具体的差异部分：
You can get it using command `hostname` in your remote robot:
$ hostname
+Enjoy it!