The “normal” diff
output format shows each hunk of differences
without any surrounding context. Sometimes such output is the clearest
way to see how lines have changed, without the clutter of nearby
unchanged lines (although you can get similar results with the context
or unified formats by using 0 lines of context). However, this format
is no longer widely used for sending out patches; for that purpose, the
context format (see Context Format) and the unified format
(see Unified Format) are superior. Normal format is the default for
compatibility with older versions of diff
and the POSIX
standard. Use the --normal option to select this output
format explicitly.