exa - A modern replacement for ls

Oct 7, 2022 · 1 min read · file management tui  ·
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exa is a replacement for the ls command, written in Rust, with colors and additional useful ways to present the content of a directory.

exa significantly improves the look of the plain ls under several aspects.

First of all, it uses different colors by default to identify different types of files, providing an immediate inderstanding of the composition of the directory.

Moreover, it can display extended system information about the files, such as inodes, number of blocks, and various times and dates.

exa has a builtin tree view, which makes the use of the separate tree command unnecessary. The tree view can be combined with the long view, showing both file detailes and directory structure.

Since it queries the files in paralles, it provides fast acccess even to large directories.

Finally, it understand the structure of a git repository, so that, for example, it can show the current status of each file.

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