BreakingChanges: say that git diff X..Y syntax will be removed in 3.0

martinvonz · martinvonz · commit daedd978b1ae · 2025-10-15T13:56:05.000-07:00
The `git diff X..Y` syntax is quite misleading because it looks like
it shows the diff of the commits in the X..Y range but it actually
shows the diff from X to Y. IMO, if that syntax is supported, it
should show a diff from the merge base of X and Y to Y. I hope Git 3.0
is a good time to remove support for the current syntax and
semantics. Then we can perhaps add the syntax back later with less
surprising semantics.

Signed-off-by: Martin von Zweigbergk &lt;martinvonz@google.com&gt;
diff --git a/Documentation/BreakingChanges.adoc b/Documentation/BreakingChanges.adoc
@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ applications and forges.
 +
 There is no plan to deprecate the "sha1" object format at this point in time.
 +
+Support for "git diff X..Y" syntax will be removed. Use "git diff X Y" instead.
+This will open up the syntax for a more consistent interpretation of
+"git diff $(git merge-base X Y) Y".
++
 Cf. <2f5de416-04ba-c23d-1e0b-83bb655829a7@zombino.com>,
 <20170223155046.e7nxivfwqqoprsqj@LykOS.localdomain>,
 <CA+EOSBncr=4a4d8n9xS4FNehyebpmX8JiUwCsXD47EQDE+DiUQ@mail.gmail.com>.

Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
`@@ -114,6 +114,10 @@ applications and forges.`
`114`	`114`	`+`
`115`	`115`	`There is no plan to deprecate the "sha1" object format at this point in time.`
`116`	`116`	`+`
	`117`	`+Support for "git diff X..Y" syntax will be removed. Use "git diff X Y" instead.`
	`118`	`+This will open up the syntax for a more consistent interpretation of`
	`119`	`+"git diff $(git merge-base X Y) Y".`
	`120`	`++`
`117`	`121`	`Cf. <2f5de416-04ba-c23d-1e0b-83bb655829a7@zombino.com>,`
`118`	`122`	`<20170223155046.e7nxivfwqqoprsqj@LykOS.localdomain>,`
`119`	`123`	`<CA+EOSBncr=4a4d8n9xS4FNehyebpmX8JiUwCsXD47EQDE+DiUQ@mail.gmail.com>.`