Count number of files within a directory in Linux?

Question

To count the number of files in a directory, I typically use ``` ls directory | wc -l ``` But is there another command that doesn't use `wc` ?

Accepted Answer

this is one:

```
ls -l . | egrep -c '^-'
```

Note:

```
ls -1 | wc -l
```

Which means: `ls`: list files in dir

`-1`: (that's a ONE) only one entry per line. Change it to -1a if you want hidden files too

`|`: pipe output onto...

`wc`: "wordcount"

`-l`: count `l`ines.

Solution