Bat: A Modern Alternative to the cat Command

Bat: A Modern Alternative to the cat Command

Bat is an enhanced version of the traditional cat command, designed for viewing and concatenating text files. It adds features like syntax highlighting, line numbering, and Git integration, making it particularly useful for developers.

Installing Bat

Debian and Ubuntu

1sudo apt install bat

Fedora

1sudo dnf install bat

Using Bat

The basic syntax of the bat command is very simple:

1bat filename

Bat automatically detects the programming or markup language and applies appropriate syntax highlighting. It also supports pagination, which is convenient for long files.

Usage Examples

Viewing a file with syntax highlighting and line numbers

1bat -n filename

Highlighting specific lines

1bat --highlight-line 5:10 filename

Git Integration

Bat displays changes in the file relative to the last commit, which is convenient for tracking code changes.

Comparison with cat

Unlike cat, bat provides more readable output thanks to syntax highlighting and other useful features such as pagination and Git integration.