See changes to a specific file using git

Question

I know that I can use the git diff command to check the changes, but, as far as I understood, it is directory based. This means it gives all the changes of all files on the current directory.

How can I check only the changes in one specific file? Say, I have changed files file_1.rb, file_2.rb, ..., file_N.rb, but I am only interested in the changes in the file file_2.rb. How do I check these changes then (before I commit)?

Answer 1

You can execute

git status -s

This will show modified files name and then by copying the interested file path you can see changes using git diff

git diff <filepath + filename>

Answer 2

Totally agree with @Greg Hewgill

And if you path includes spaces, you might use, try adding with apostrophe ' or `

git diff 'MyProject/My Folder/My Sub Folder/file_2.rb'

Answer 3

You can use gitk [filename] to see the changes log