Line break types differ across operating systems: CR (Carriage Return) is used by old Macintosh systems, LF (Line Feed) by Unix/Linux, and CRLF (Carriage Return + Line Feed) by Windows.
These characters determine how a new line is represented in text files. Understanding the CR LF distinction helps when handling cross-platform files or resolving Git or formatting issues.
Can you show examples of these in action or how editors handle them?
Absolutely! This tripped me up when collaborating across Windows and Linux.
In Windows, a new line is marked by \r\n (CRLF), while on Linux or macOS, it’s just \n (LF).
Older Macs used just \r (CR), but that’s rare now.
Most code editors (like VS Code or Sublime) let you view and even convert between these formats.
I usually make sure .gitattributes is configured to normalize line endings to avoid weird Git diffs.
Yeah, it’s one of those subtle things that can cause huge headaches!
I once spent hours debugging why a script failed on Linux but worked on my colleague’s Windows machine, turned out it was just CRLF vs LF! Tools like dos2unix (or unix2dos) are lifesavers for converting these line endings. And most IDEs now show this in the bottom bar, so it’s easier to catch.
@Shreshthaseth Good question! I ran into this while handling CSV files between systems.
In a hex editor, you’ll literally see CR as 0D, LF as 0A, and CRLF as 0D0A.
On Windows, Notepad expects CRLF and shows LF-only files on one line. But editors like Notepad++ or VS Code can switch line endings easily.
I usually convert everything to LF for consistency, especially in Git repos.