GitHub Enhances Pull Request Experience with Rich Diffs and Improved Ordering

GitHub has announced significant updates to its pull request ‘Files changed’ page, currently available in public preview, according to a recent post on the GitHub blog. These enhancements are designed to improve the user experience by providing rich diffs, better tree ordering, and several performance improvements.

Rich Diffs and Improved Tree Ordering

The new updates introduce rich diff previews for image and markdown files within pull requests. Users can now toggle between a source view and a rich preview for markdown and .svg files. For image files, three comparison options are available: 2-up, swipe, and onion skin.

Additionally, the ordering of files and folders in the tree view has been streamlined. Folders are now listed before files at the same level, aligning with other GitHub experiences and local IDEs. This change addresses previous challenges where files were mixed between folders, complicating navigation.

Performance and Usability Enhancements

The update also includes various fixes and improvements. Notably, it resolves issues where expanding diff hunks could fail due to specific characters in file paths, and it ensures that navigating to a collapsed file automatically expands it. Performance enhancements aim to reduce re-renders when interacting with larger pull requests, and a spinner now appears on buttons like ‘Add comment’ to indicate ongoing operations.

Future Improvements and Limitations

While the new page offers numerous benefits, GitHub acknowledges existing limitations and plans further enhancements. Current gaps include reviewing a single commit, applying multiple suggested changes in batches, handling submodule changes, addressing code scanning alerts, and adding keyboard shortcuts. The preview is also limited to displaying the first 300 files of a pull request, with an option to switch to the classic page for larger requests.

Users are encouraged to participate in the feedback discussion to report issues, ask questions, and stay informed about updates. The feedback platform can be accessed via the official GitHub blog link.

For those interested in experiencing these improvements, GitHub invites developers to try the enhanced ‘Files changed’ page by selecting the ‘Try the new experience’ link available on the existing pull request page.

For more detailed information, visit the GitHub blog.

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