Editing Patch (Unix) (section)

{{Short description|Unix utility to apply changes to text files}}
{{lowercase|title=patch (Unix)}}
{{Infobox software
| name = patch
| logo = 
| screenshot = TuxOnIce patching.png
| screenshot size = 
| caption = A screenshot of using patch
| author = [[Larry Wall]]
| developer = Paul Eggert, Wayne Davison, David MacKenzie, Andreas Grünbacher
| released = {{Start date and age|1985|05|24}}
| latest release version = 
| latest release date = 
| operating system = [[Unix]] and [[Unix-like]], [[Plan 9 from Bell Labs|Plan 9]], [[MSX-DOS]], [[Microsoft Windows]]
| platform = [[Cross-platform]]
| genre = [[Command (computing)|Command]]
| license = 
| website = 
}}
The computer tool '''patch''' is a [[Unix]] [[computer program|program]] that updates [[text file]]s according to instructions contained in a separate file, called a ''patch file''. The patch file (also called a ''patch'' for short) is a text file that consists of a list of differences and is produced by running the related [[diff]] program with the original and updated file as arguments. Updating files with patch is often referred to as ''applying the patch'' or simply ''patching'' the files.