Linux Find command source code

Question

When I type find into my terminal, this is the output I get:

My-MacBook-Air:desktop User$ find
usage: find [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] [-f path] path ... [expression]
       find [-H | -L | -P] [-EXdsx] -f path [path ...] [expression]

How does my computer know where the source code for this command is and how can I access it myself?

user2371524 · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-06 18:02:58Z

5

Ok well ... first this is probably not Linux but MacOS? But no matter what, your computer doesn't use any source code but a compiled executable, that is located somewhere in your search path -- a list of directories that are searched when you enter a command, typically something like /usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin

You can display your search path with echo $PATH and find the full location of find with which find.

No idea what version of find comes with MacOS ... if you're really interested in source code, you could download the version typically installed on linux systems here: http://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/findutils/

answered Jul 6, 2015 at 18:02

user2371524

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2 Comments

PhoenixRising Over a year ago

So the way my computer calls the find command is through an executable binary script?

user2371524 Over a year ago

It's not a script ("binary script" somehow contradicts itself). It is native executable code in an executable file. This is actually true for most programs you run nowadays. Notable exceptions are Java or .NET programs (which run in a virtual machine, but are still binary) and, well, scripts (which are readable source in text form, interpreted at run time).

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