Using 'diff' (or anything else) to get character-level diff between text files

Question

I\'d like to use \'diff\' to get a both line difference between and character difference. For example, consider:

File 1

abcde
ab         


        

Answer 1

Most of these answers mention using of diff-highlight, a Perl module. But I didn't want to figure out how to install a Perl module. So I made a few minor changes to it to be a self-contained Perl script.

You can install it using:

▶ curl -o /usr/local/bin/DiffHighlight.pl \
   https://raw.githubusercontent.com/alexharv074/scripts/master/DiffHighlight.pl

And the usage (if you have the Ubuntu colordiff mentioned in zhanxw's answer):

▶ diff -u f1 f2 | colordiff | DiffHighlight.pl

And the usage (if you don't):

▶ diff -u f1 f2 | DiffHighlight.pl