Symbolic Link

What Does Symbolic Link Mean?

A symbolic link is a type of file that contains reference to another file or directory in the form of a path. It is a file system object that refers and points towards another file system object.

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A symbolic link is also known as a symlink or soft link.

Techopedia Explains Symbolic Link

Symbolic links are primarily used by operating systems in pointing or linking file system-level objects. They are mainly designed to help in migrating and porting applications on different operating system platforms. Typically, a symbolic link contains a text string that contains the path to another file or directory. The file or directory it points toward is known as the target and it can exist on a different disk volume or file system. Most operating systems including UNIX, Mac OS and Windows support symbolic links.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…