Explain what happens when you run ls
Quick Overview
This question evaluates a candidate's understanding of process creation and execution, shell command resolution, kernel and VFS filesystem interactions, and how directory entries and file metadata are retrieved; category/domain: Software Engineering Fundamentals.
Google
Feb 1, 2026, 12:00 AM
Software Engineer
Technical Screen
Software Engineering Fundamentals
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In Linux, explain the end-to-end flow of what happens when a user types ls in a shell and presses Enter.
Include:
- What the shell does
- How the executable is found and started
- Key system calls / kernel filesystem interactions
- How directory entries and file metadata are retrieved
-
What changes for common flags like
-l,-a, and-R
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