grep
Technology & Computing abbreviation · Programming
| Stands for | Globally search for a regular expression and print |
|---|---|
| Categories | Technology & Computing |
grep stands for Globally search for a regular expression and print, a programming abbreviation.
A Unix command-line tool that searches files or input for lines matching a pattern and prints them. Developers use it constantly to find code, filter logs and chain with other commands.
Example: Running grep -rn "TODO" src/ lists every TODO with its file and line number.
Usage notes
Written by Ken Thompson in 1973; the name comes from the ed editor command g/re/p, meaning globally search for a regular expression and print matching lines. "To grep" became a verb for searching anything. Faster modern alternatives include ripgrep (rg) and The Silver Searcher.
Related abbreviations
More programming abbreviations
- FSM – Finite-state machine
- GC – Garbage collection
- GCC – GNU Compiler Collection
- GDB – GNU Debugger
- GIL – Global interpreter lock
- GoF – Gang of Four
- gRPC – gRPC Remote Procedure Calls
- GUID – Globally unique identifier
- HATEOAS – Hypermedia as the Engine of Application State
- i18n – Internationalization
- IDE – Integrated development environment
- IIFE – Immediately invoked function expression