# Three Ways to Create Files


Hi everyone, this is Brian and today we're going to look at three ways to create files.

The first way to create files is with the `touch` command. Usually, you use `touch` to update the timestamp on a file. But if the file doesn't exist, `touch` creates a blank one.

Let's create three files with the `touch` command:

```command
touch one.txt two.txt three.txt
```

This one command creates three files. You can specify as many files as you'd like.

Now list the contents of the directory and you'll see the files:

```command
ls
```

```
one.txt two.txt three.txt
```

These files are empty, but you can edit them in your favorite editor.

The second way to create files is with the `echo` command and shell redirection. Here's how:

```command
echo "Hello there." > four.txt
```

The text "Hello there." is redirected into that file instead of being printed to the screen.  Look at the file's contents with `cat`:

```command
cat four.txt
Hello there.
```

A single arrow always replaces the file content. To add another line, use two arrows:

```command
echo "This is another line." >> four.txt
```

You can keep appending text to the file this way. 

You can save the output of any program that prints to the screen. For example, save the output of the directory listing to the file 'list.txt' 

```command
ls > list.txt
```

Instead of seeing the directory listing on the screen, it's in the file. 

```command
cat list.txt
```

The third way to create files is to use `cat` and a here-document. We'll tell the `cat` command to accept a `here-document` and read in all of the text that follows until it finds the line `EOF`. Then we'll tell it to save the result to the file `five.txt`:

```command
cat << 'EOF' > five.txt
This is a line
So is this.
This is line 3
EOF
```

The file saves. We can use `cat` to look at the file contents:

```command
cat five.txt
This is a line
So is this.
This is line 3
```

There you have it. Three methods to create files. Practice with these and see if you can figure out which method works for you.