Basic Linux commands for Devs

Question 1

man {command}

Answer 1

use to get more details about the specified command and arguments that can be used with it

Question 2

pwd

Answer 2

“Present working directory”. prints the path to the current directory

Question 3

open {filename/url}

Answer 3

used to open the specified file or internet URL

Question 4

ls

Answer 4

list all files and folders in the current directory

-a : adds hidden elements
-l : long format (adds more information)
-al : does both

Question 5

mkdir {name}

Answer 5

used to create a new folder/directory

can also make multiple at once by adding space separated names ex.
mkdir folder1 folder2 folder3

-p: create nested folders
ex:
mkdir -p foler1/nested

Question 6

touch {name}

Answer 6

used to create new files.
ex:
touch file.txt
touch file.txt file2.py

Question 7

rmdir

Answer 7

used to remove empty folders
ex:
rmdir folder

Question 8

rm

Answer 8

used to remove empty or non-empty folders/directories/files
ex:
rm file.txt
rm -d empty_folder
rm -r non_empty_folder
rm -r * (removes all files/folders in current directory)

note:
files will not be moved to recycle bin, it is a permanent deletion.

Question 9

cp {file} {folder}

Answer 9

used to copy files into the target folder
ex:
cp file1.txt folder

Question 10

mv {file} {folder}

Answer 10

used to move files into the target folder
ex:
mv file1.txt folder

Question 11

history

Answer 11

used to show all commands that have been typed into the Linux shell.

Question 12

diff {file1} {files2}

Answer 12

used to show the difference between two files

Question 13

head {filename}

Answer 13

used to show the first {10 lines default} of the file
ex:
head -n 15 logfile.txt
{will show the first 15 lines of logfile.txt}

Question 14

tail {filename}

Answer 14

used to show the last{10 lines default} of the file
ex:
tail -n 15 logfile.txt
{will show the last 15 lines of logfile.txt}

Question 15

echo {msg/$variable}

Answer 15

used to print things to the terminal.
ex:
echo $username
{prints value of username}

echo *.txt
{prints all txt files in the dir to terminal}

Question 16

ping {url / IP address}

Answer 16

pings the given address to check connectivity.
will run indefinitely every second until killed with {cntrl + C}