Which command would you use to view the contents of a directory including hidden files?

Using the command ls -a is the correct choice for viewing the contents of a directory, including hidden files. In Unix-like operating systems, files and directories that start with a dot (.) are considered hidden. By using the -a (all) option with the ls command, the output includes those hidden files alongside the regular files and directories.

The standard ls command alone only shows non-hidden files and directories. Options like list do not exist as a command in standard Linux distributions, and the dir command, while it can list directory contents, typically does not show hidden files by default unless additional flags are used. Therefore, ls -a is the most effective command for this purpose.