“Crontab” and “cron job” are related terms often used interchangeably, but they refer to different aspects of the same concept.

1. Cron job: A cron job is a scheduled task that runs at specific intervals or times on a Unix-like operating system (such as Linux). These tasks are executed automatically and can perform various functions like backups, system maintenance, data updates, or any other regular operation required by the system or applications.

2. Crontab: Crontab is a command used to manage the list of cron jobs on a Unix-like system. It stands for “cron table.” Each user on the system can have their own crontab, which lists the cron jobs scheduled to run for that specific user. Crontab allows users to define the schedule and command for each cron job they want to run.

So, in summary, a cron job is the actual task that runs on a scheduled basis, while crontab is the command-line tool used to manage and define these cron jobs for individual users on the system.