How do I diff the same file between two different commits on the same branch?

If you have configured the "difftool" you can use

git difftool revision_1:file_1 revision_2:file_2

Example: Comparing a file from its last commit to its previous commit on the same branch: Assuming that if you are in your project root folder

$git difftool HEAD:src/main/java/com.xyz.test/MyApp.java HEAD^:src/main/java/com.xyz.test/MyApp.java

You should have the following entries in your ~/.gitconfig or in project/.git/config file. Install the p4merge.

[merge]
    tool = p4merge
    keepBackup = false
[diff]
    tool = p4merge
    keepBackup = false
[difftool "p4merge"]
    path = C:/Program Files (x86)/Perforce/p4merge.exe
[mergetool]
    keepBackup = false
[difftool]
    keepBackup = false
[mergetool "p4merge"]
    path = C:/Program Files (x86)/Perforce/p4merge.exe
    cmd = p4merge.exe \"$BASE\" \"$LOCAL\" \"$REMOTE\" \"$MERGED\"

Note: If you are using Intellij Enterprise or Community Edition - It has a good tool for doing 3 way merge when doing a merging/rebasing

For simple diff you can right click->Git->Compare with revision

Select the revision you are interested in

Intellij will show the diff.

You can also compare two different files in two different revisions, like this:

git diff <revision_1>:<file_1> <revision_2>:<file_2>

Check $ git log, copy the SHA-1 ID of the two different commits, and run the git diff command with those IDs. for example:

$ git diff (sha-id-one) (sha-id-two)

From the git-diff manpage:

git diff [--options] <commit> <commit> [--] [<path>...]

For instance, to see the difference for a file "main.c" between now and two commits back, here are three equivalent commands:

$ git diff HEAD^^ HEAD main.c
$ git diff HEAD^^..HEAD -- main.c
$ git diff HEAD~2 HEAD -- main.c