to compare the contents of 2 files
 

say I have 2 files that almost look like each other and I am too lazy to scroll down and compare each one by one

is there a way to compare the contents of the 2 and put the differences into a txt file / screen display etc ?

diff or various gui's like xxdiff.

Digiot is right. Use diff.

diff <file 1> <file 2>

if you want to output the differences into a file and look at them then:

diff (file 1) (file 2) > difference.txt

-twantrd

cmp can also work, it just givs a bunch of numbers tho, soo u cant use its output to patch files

cmp --help for info otherwise its just like

cmp file1 file2