What is /dev/null in Unix?

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Bhasker Reddy

Linux Administration Certification and UNIX Shell Scripting

It is a bit bucket in Unix where you dump things you don't need. When you need to discard output from your command , you can redirect it to /dev/null. In Unix, an external device is treated as a file. All such devices are found as files in /dev directory. It is a Null device . Suppose you need to...
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It is a bit bucket in Unix where you dump things you don't need. When you need to discard output from your command , you can redirect it to /dev/null. In Unix, an external device is treated as a file. All such devices are found as files in /dev directory. It is a Null device . Suppose you need to search for a pattern, but do not need it to be displayed to the console, but need the exit code of the command, we can do grep pattern filename > /dev/null # search without displaying it to console. echo $? # exit code You can also redirect your standard error messages from a command to /dev/null as $cmd 2> /dev/null Here 2> represents standard error. /dev/null is the bit-bucket: the place where you dump anything you don't need. /dev/null is a special file-system object that throws away everything written into it. Redirecting a stream into it means hiding an output. read less
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Programming Language Trainer - Java, Python, .NET, Power BI, Tableau, Excel, SQL, Data Analytics

it is used to dispose off unwanted files or devices in Unix. it is a special file, not a directory, therefore, one cannot use mv command to move files in /dev/null.
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Training Professional

/dev/null is the null file Is is a special file which contains nothing.
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Linux Admin Trainer

/dev/null is a file. if we want to nullify something we can redirect the output to this file. Ex: find / -name linux >> /dev/null
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Trainer

Its a file which stands for the null file or if i comoare it with windows OS,we can call it as a permanently deleting the file by pressing Shift+del key .
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IT Professional Trainer with 13 Years of Experience

its an black hole you can send any junk data.
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