cp

When both arguments are filenames, cp copies the file at the first argument to the file at the second argument.

Here, /home/kamstut/myfile.txt is the source file and /home/kamstut/projects/project_1/myfile_copied.txt is the destination file. If /home/kamstut/projects/project_1/myfile_copied.txt already exists, cp will overwrite it, without warning. If it does not already exist, a new file will be created, and the content copied over.

In order to copy folders using cp, we must use the -R option. When both arguments are directories, cp copies the directory in the first argument to the directory at the second argument.

Here, the other_files folder is copied (with its contents) to /home/kamstut/projects/project_1/other_files. In order to copy the contents of the other_files folder, we must use a wildcard.

Here, all files in the other_files folder are copied to /home/kamstut/projects/project_1/. In fact, in this situation, you do not even need to have the -R option.

When two or more arguments are passed to cp, cp copies every file specified to the destination specified. The destination is the last argument.

Here, myfile1.txt and myfile2.txt are copied to the desination /home/kamstut/projects/project_1/.

If we wanted to copy a directory to our destination as well, we would need to add the -R flag.

Here, myfile1.txt, myfile2.txt and the other_files folder are all copied to the destination /home/kamstut/projects/project_1/.

If we wanted to copy myfile1.txt, myfile2.txt, and the contents of the other_files to the same destination, we would need to use a wildcard, * to indicate we want to copy the files in other_files.