Git diff partial file name

Question

Is there a way to specify a partial file name in order to save keystrokes?

Instead of:

git diff path/path/path/path/path/somefilename.js

To something like:

git diff *somefilename.js

Or:

git diff .somefilename.js

Answer 1

Not git-based, but I often use something like

<command> $(git ls-files | grep 'somefilename.js')

to specify a file with a basename that is unique in the repository. In this case, that would be git diff $(git ls-files | grep 'somefilename.js'.

git ls-files will list all the files tracked in your repo. You can then grep for the basename to get the full name of the file. By doing that in a subshell ($(...)) you can interpolate that full name into whatever command you want.

Answer 2

git diff -- "**/somefilename.js"