title: Git diff --stat explanation
body: <p><a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3340051/what-does-the-output-of-git-pull-actually-mean">Git's pull output</a> has been explained here fairly well. In spite of this I'm still unsure exactly what the text graph relates to. </p>
  
  <p>For example:</p>
  
  <p><code>git diff --stat master HEAD^</code></p>
  
  <p>Outputs (truncated):</p>
  
  <p><code>Site/index.php     |  118 ++--</code></p>
  
  <p>While the number of lines modified is clearly displayed as 118, the text graph is a little harder to interpret. </p>
  
  <p>Could this relate to the ratio of added and removed lines?</p>