cat (display file contents) in Linux CLI - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Display File Contents Using cat Command

📖 Scenario: You are working on a Linux system and want to quickly see what is inside a text file. The cat command helps you display the contents of files right in the terminal.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to use the cat command to display the contents of a file named example.txt.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a file named example.txt with specific content

Use the cat command to display the file contents

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Viewing file contents quickly in the terminal is common when checking logs, configuration files, or any text data.

💼 Career

System administrators, developers, and anyone working with Linux servers use cat daily to inspect files.

1

Create the file example.txt

Create a file named example.txt with the exact content: Hello, this is a test file.

Linux CLI

# Use the echo command to create example.txt with the text
# Your code here

Need a hint?

You can use echo "text" > filename to create a file with text.

2

Check the file exists

Use the ls command to list files and confirm example.txt exists.

Linux CLI

echo "Hello, this is a test file." > example.txt
# Use ls to check example.txt is present
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use ls example.txt to check the file.

3

Display the contents of example.txt

Use the cat command with example.txt to display its contents.

Linux CLI

echo "Hello, this is a test file." > example.txt
ls example.txt
# Use cat to show the contents of example.txt
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Type cat example.txt to see the file content.

4

View the output of the cat command

Run the script and observe the output. It should display exactly: Hello, this is a test file.

Linux CLI

echo "Hello, this is a test file." > example.txt
ls example.txt
cat example.txt
# Run the commands and see the output

Need a hint?

The last line printed should be the file content.