What is a .PATCH file?
A .PATCH file is a type of file used by people who develop software, specifically with a tool called Mercurial. Mercurial helps these developers manage changes to their code. Imagine you wrote a story, then later made some changes to it. If you wanted to show someone only what you changed, you would use something like a .PATCH file. It lists the differences between the old version of your story and the new one. This is really helpful for developers working together, so they can easily update their work with the latest changes someone else made, without having to replace the whole thing.
To open a .PATCH file, you would use the Mercurial program. This program understands how to read the file and apply the changes listed in it to update older versions of text or code files to the newer version. When the Mercurial program sees a .PATCH file, it looks for a specific line that starts with "diff -" to know where the changes begin. This is like finding the spot in your story where you started making edits. Mercurial is made using the programming languages Python and C, which means it's pretty reliable and efficient at handling these tasks.
It's also worth noting that .PATCH files are sometimes called .DIFF files. This is because they originally came from a command called "diff" that also lists differences between two files. So, whether you see .PATCH or .DIFF, they're used for similar purposes in helping developers keep track of changes to their code.
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