Symbolic Link and hard link

Symbolic Link: deleting a symbolic link will delete the file;

Hard link: deleting a hard link will not delete the file, but will only reduce the link Count value by one.

 

What is the difference between symbolic link and hard link?

ASymbolic LinkIs a special file that only contains a filename. Remove the link will also remove the original file.

AHard LinkPoints to the file itself. The operating system keeps track of how many hard links point to a file. Remove the hard link will just reduce the link count.