Question: I was reading php functions and I came across [symlink](http://www.php.net/manual/en/function.symlink.php) but I really couldnt grab it specially its usage in real world application developement. Can anybody please explain me with real world example?

Thanks

Answer: 
Let's assume you have a `src` folder in your `$HOME` directory where your sources are stored. When you open a new shell, you usually enter your `$HOME` directory when the shell was started. It might be a common step that whenever you open up a new shell, you want to enter the directory `~/src/very_long_project_name` afterwards.

This is where symlinks come into play: you could create a symlink in your `$HOME` directory (for example called `vlpn` that directly points to `~/src/very_long_project_name`.

When you open your console next time, you could simply type `cd vlpn` instead of `cd src/very_long_project_name`. That's it. Nothing PHP specific. Like [giraff](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5063738/symlink-real-world-example/5063795#5063795) and [gnur](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/5063738/symlink-real-world-example/5063772#5063772) already said.
The php function actually only delegates to the operating-system's functionality, so it is only as useful as a [symbolic symlink](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic_link) in general is:

> 
> Symbolic links operate transparently
>  for most operations: programs which
>  read or write to files named by a
>  symbolic link will behave as if
>  operating directly on the target file.
> 
> 
> *(from Wikipedia)*
> 
> 
> 

I've seen it used by **Typo3**:

Each Typo3-site has folder that link to the main installation - so several sites can use the same code base, and Typo3 can be updated by extracting the new version, then changing the symlinks (reducing the time the site is offline).