Question

I’d like to use alias to make some commands for myself when searching through directories for code files, but I’m a little nervous because they start with “.”. Here’s some examples:

$ alias .cpps="ls -a *.cpp"

$ alias .hs="ls -a *.h"

Should I be worried about encountering any difficulties? Has anyone else done this?

Answer 1

What is the advantage of putting the dot in the names? It seems like an unnecessary extra character. I’d just use the base names (hs and cpps) for the aliases.

I suppose that it might be argued that the dot indicates that the command is an alias – but why is that distinction beneficial? One of the great things about Unix was that it removed the distinction between hallowed commands provided by the O/S and programs written by the user. They are all equal – just located in different places.

I don’t see any real dangers with using aliases that start with a dot. It would never have occurred to me to try; I’m mildly surprised that they are allowed. But given that they are allowed, there is no real risk involved that I can see.