Need to find files quickly using a search pattern? The * (asterisk/star) is your wildcard hero! It's used in command lines, programming, and even GUI file managers to match any sequence of characters.
🔧 1. Command Line (Shell / CMD)
The * wildcard helps list or find files easily.
🐧 Unix/Linux/macOS
bash
ls * # lists all files and folders
ls *.txt # lists all files ending in .txt
ls data* # matches files like data.csv, data1.txt, data_report.pdf
🪟 Windows Command Prompt
cmd
dir * # lists all files and folders
dir *.jpg # lists all .jpg files
dir file*.* # matches file.txt, file123.csv, file_report.docx
🐍 2. In Programming (e.g., Python with glob)
Use glob for file pattern matching in scripts.
python
import glob
# Get all .txt files in current directory
for file in glob.glob("*.txt"):
print(file)
Or recursively:
python
import glob
# Get all .java files in subdirectories too
for file in glob.glob("**/*.java", recursive=True):
print(file)
💻 3. Java File Search Using *
Java doesn't directly support glob with * via File, but you can use java.nio.file:
java
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.*;
import java.util.stream.Stream;
public class FileSearchExample {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
Path dir = Paths.get(".");
try (Stream<Path> stream = Files.newDirectoryStream(dir, "*.txt").stream()) {
stream.forEach(System.out::println);
}
}
}
Or use Files.walk + endsWith:
java
Files.walk(Paths.get("."))
.filter(path -> path.toString().endsWith(".txt"))
.forEach(System.out::println);
🗂️ 4. File Managers
Many GUI file explorers (Windows, macOS Finder, Linux file managers) support *:
*.pdf → finds all PDFsreport* → finds report1.docx, report_final.pdf*log* → matches any file with "log" in its name
✅ Summary
ContextExampleDescriptionShell/CMDls *.txtAll .txt filesPython (glob)glob("*.csv")Matches all .csv filesJavanewDirectoryStream("*.log")Files ending in .logGUI File Manager*data*All files with "data" in name
The * wildcard means “match anything”—so it’s your go-to for flexible file filtering.