Introduction

The command line allows users to interact with the programs on a computer through a sequence of linear commands. It is found through the terminal on Mac, or the Ubuntu app for the Windows subsystem for Linux.

Some basic terminology:

• Directory: another name for a folder
• Bash: The command language used on Unix based computers

Commands have the form:

$ command -flag(s) argument(s)

The $ indicates that you are working in the command line of a Unix based system and is not part of the command.

Here's some examples:

$ ls -la
$ mkdir myfolder
$ rm -r myfolder

Basic Commands

ls allows you to see the contents of a directory:

$ ls
myfolder1  myfolder2  myfolder3  mytext.txt

cd changes your directory, and pwd prints your working directory:

/home$ pwd
/home
/home$ cd myname
/home/myname$ cd ..
/home$

touch can easily create new empty files:

$ ls
myfolder
$ touch myfile
$ ls
myfolder myfile

rm is used to remove objects like files or directories:

$ touch myfile
$ ls
myfolder myfile
$ rm myfile
$ ls
myfolder