What command is used to remove a directory and its contents?

The command designed for removing a directory along with all of its contents is "rm -r". The "-r" flag stands for "recursive," indicating that the command should process all files and subdirectories within the specified directory. This is essential when you want to delete not just the directory itself but everything inside it as well.

In contrast, "rmdir" is specifically used to remove empty directories and cannot handle directories that contain files or subdirectories. Thus, it would not suffice in situations where you need to delete a directory that holds any contents.

The command "del" is not a standard command in Linux for directory manipulation; it is more commonly associated with file deletion in Windows systems. Therefore, this command would not be applicable within a Linux environment.

The command "rm -f" is used to forcefully remove files without prompting for confirmation. While it can delete files, it does not inherently include the recursive functionality required to remove directories with their contents, making it unsuitable for this task on its own.

Therefore, the command that best fulfills the requirement of removing a directory along with all its contents is "rm -r".