The ls command lists all files and directories in the working directory. We can use ls as is, or attach an option. Options modify the behavior of commands.

For example:

ls -a

The command above displays the contents of the working directory in more detail. This command displays all the files and directories, including those starting with a dot (.). Files starting with a dot are normally hidden, and don’t appear when using ls alone.

The -a is called an option. Options modify the behavior of commands.

In addition to -a, the ls command has several more options. Here are three common ones:

• -a - lists all contents, including hidden files and directories
• -l - lists all contents of a directory in long format, as well as the file permissions
• -t - orders files and directories by the time they were last modified.

Let’s practice using these options below.