What is the difference between soft link and hard link in Linux?

In Linux, a hard link is an additional name for an existing file that points to the same inode. Specifically:

• Hard links cannot usually refer to directories.
• Hard links exist only within the same filesystem.
• If the original file is deleted, the hard link still works because it points to the same inode.

A soft link (symbolic link) is a separate file containing the path to another file or directory:

• It can refer to files and directories.
• It can link to objects in other filesystems.
• If the original file is deleted, the soft link becomes broken.

Example of creation:

ln original.txt hardlink.txt      # hard link
ln -s original.txt softlink.txt   # soft (symbolic) link