Why is there a dot in front of .bashrc

Question

I have been trying to figure this out for a while now, pretty simple question for some I can only guess, but why is there a 'dot' in front of .bashrc?

Answer 1

By default, filenames prefixed by a dot (.) don't show up when you do the ls command in Linux.* Most system files (like .bashrc) are prefixed by a dot for this reason.

*Unless you run ls with the appropriate switches; man ls for more information.

Answer 2

Because it's a hidden file.

Standard file browsers won't display files beginning with a . unless you set some setting for it ("Show hidden files" or similar). Files beginning with a . will also not appear on the standard ls output, but ls -a will allow you to see them.

It basically reduces clutter since hidden files a generally ones you won't need to see on a daily basis.