using cut command in bash

Question

I want to get only the number of lines in a file: so I do:

$wc -l countlines.py 
   9 countlines.py

I do not want the filename, so I tried

$wc -l countlines.py | cut -d ' ' -f1

but this just echo empty line.

I just want number 9 to be printed

Answer 1

Use stdin and you won't have issue with wc printing filename

wc -l < countlines.py