Boston Python workshop 2/Friday setup/Terminal navigation on OSX

There are three commands that we'll be using at a command prompt to navigate the filesystem on your computer:

• ls
• pwd
• cd

ls lists the contents of a directory.
pwd gives the full directory path to your current directory.
cd moves you into a new directory (it stands for "change directory").

Let's practice using these commands.

Open a command prompt:

You can find the Terminal application through Spotlight, or navigate to Applications/Utilities/Terminal.

Practice using dir and cd

Type each of these commands and hit enter:

ls

This lists all the files in your home directory.

pwd

This displays the full directory path to your current directory, which is your home directory.

cd /

This will change you into the / root directory.

ls

This lists the contents of the / root directory.

cd Users

This will change you into the Users subdirectory of the / root directory.

ls

You should see a list of all the files in /Users, including the directory for your username -- your home directory.

pwd

This displays the full directory path to your current directory, /Users.

cd ..

.. means "parent directory", so this command moved you up to the parent directory. You were in /Users, so now you are in /, the root directory.

ls

This lists the contents of the root directory, confirming where you are.

• You can use Tab to auto-complete directory and file names. So from inside the root directory, if you type cd U and hit Tab, the command prompt will auto-complete the directory name as much as it can.
• The command prompt maintains a command history. You can use the up arrow to cycle through old commands.

Success!

You've practiced using ls, pwd, and cd to navigate your computer's filesystem from the command prompt.