This quick how-to tutorial describes the complete procedure to compare Word documents using Java. This article provides thorough information for configuring the document comparison library, steps to produce the code as well as sample Java code to compare two Word documents. Moreover, this guide can be followed on operating systems like MS Windows, Linux, and Mac OS.

Steps to Compare Word Documents using Java

1. Install GroupDocs.Comparison for Java from the Maven repository in the Java project to compare Word documents
2. Import essential classes for developing the functionality to compare Word files in Java
3. Instantiate Comparer class and pass the source Word file to its constructor
4. Call the add method of the Comparer class and specify the target DOCX file path
5. Finally, call the compare method and pass the resultant Word file path for comparison

These steps explain the procedure to compare word documents for differences in Java by using one of the best document comparison library. It is a very quick process to compare two Word documents by following the above instructions. Further, it does not require third-party software and MS Office for comparing the Word files. Moreover, this feature can be developed with three to four lines of code that consists of consuming APIs.

Code to Compare Word Documents using Java

In the above example, we have written the functionality to compare two Word documents and highlight differences using Java. This sample code shows the comparison of two Word files in Java language, however, you can compare multiple Word documents by repeating step 4 in the code. Moreover, you can quickly compare documents for other Microsoft Word formats such as DOC, DOCM, DOT, DOTM, DOTX, and RTF.

We have discussed the detailed procedures to compare two Word documents using Java and produced sample code for it. Recently, we published an article on comparing Excel files in Java, have a look at how to Compare Excel Files in Java guide for more information.