Old file version in split with vim

If you use git VCS, you can view previous version of the file you are currently editing in a split window by executing following command:

:vsp tmp | read !git show HEAD^:path/from/working/directory

For the instant syntax highlighting, you can specify temporary file’s extension, like following:

:vsp tmp.py | read !git show HEAD^:lib/module.py

You can also cycle back by few versions by replacing HEAD^ (which points to the previous commit) with HEAD~N, where N is the number of commits you would like to go back in history by. For example, if you would like to get a version of the file 4 commits ago - you can do so by executing following command:

:vsp tmp | read !git show HEAD~4:path/from/working/directory

It’s a pretty nice hack when you need to quickly view previous version of the file you are working on.