Linux Pocket Guide

Name

wc [options] [files] — coreutils

Synopsis

/usr/bin stdin stdout - file -- opt --help --version

The wc (word count) program prints a count of bytes, words, and lines in (presumably) a text file.

$ wc myfile
   24      62     428 myfile

This file has 24 lines, 62 whitespace-delimited words, and 428 bytes.

Useful options
-l	Print the line count only.
-w	Print the word count only.
-c	Print the byte (character) count only.
-L	Locate the longest line in each file and print its length in bytes.