git diff: what is the difference between --cached and --staged

Question

To compare the staged with the last commit:

git diff --cached
git diff --staged

Both commands generate the same results, right?

Answer 1

git-scm.com/docs/git-diff (see bolded text):

git diff [] --cached [] [--] […​]

This form is to view the changes you staged for the next commit relative to the named . Typically you would want comparison with the latest commit, so if you do not give , it defaults to HEAD. If HEAD does not exist (e.g. unborn branches) and is not given, it shows all staged changes. --staged is a synonym of --cached.