paste command

In the world of data processing and system administration, the ability to efficiently manipulate files is a crucial skill. Whether you're merging logs, collating data files, or simply trying to view multiple data streams side by side, the Unix paste command is a versatile and underutilized tool that can be incredibly beneficial. Today, we’re diving into how to use paste to merge files, compare and align data, or format output for other uses like reports or simple databases. The paste command is a Unix shell command commonly used for merging lines of files. It provides a straightforward way to combine multiple files horizontally (i.e., side-by-side) rather than vertically like the cat command, which concatenates files sequentially.