Less in Linux - Shell-Bash

Introduction

As a programmer, you may frequently encounter situations where you need to view large files in the terminal. Linux offers a powerful and efficient tool for this task: "less". Less is a command-line utility that allows you to view, search, and navigate large files without having to load the entire file into memory.

Installation

Less is usually pre-installed on most Linux distributions. However, if it is not already installed, you can install it using the following command:

sudo apt-get install less

Usage

To use less, open a terminal window and navigate to the directory containing the file you want to view. Then enter the following command:

less <filename>

Less will open the file, and you'll be able to view its contents. Here are some common commands you can use while viewing a file with less:

• Up/Down Arrow - Navigate up and down the file.
• Page Up/Page Down - Move up or down an entire page at a time.
• G - Go to the end of the file.
• 1G - Go to the beginning of the file.
• /search_term - Search for a specific term in the file. Press N to go to the next occurrence of the search term.
• q - Quit less.

Conclusion

Using less in Linux can greatly improve your productivity and help you efficiently navigate large files in the terminal. By mastering the commands above, you can easily search, navigate, and view files of any size.