Q:

Why htaccess starts with dot

I am studying the apache's .htaccess file and understands the concepts behind it. I followed some good tutorials/articles but there is no any clear explanation of it that why htaccess started with dot (.htaccess). 
Any suggestions?

A:

These types of files are called Dot Files.
A file that starts with a dot denotes a hidden file, which is generally used for configuration purposes. You can find a list of other common Dot Files here.

A:

On *nix systems, a . at the beginning of a filename means that it is a hidden file. I'd assume that apache means to signal that this is not a normal page of the website, hence uses a hidden file.

