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which

Explanation​

The which command returns the pathnames of the files (or links) which would be executed in the current environment had its arguments been given as commands. It does this by searching the directories listed in the PATH environment variable.

Basic Syntax​

which [options] [--] programname [...]

Common Flags and Options​

FlagDescription
-aPrint all matching pathnames of each argument.

Real-world Examples​

  1. Find the location of the ls executable:

    which ls

    (Output might be /bin/ls)

  2. Find the location of Python:

    which python3

  3. Find all executables named 'gcc' in your PATH:

    which -a gcc