Code 401 Prep: Practice in the Terminal Reading Notes

Bash Command Line Tutorial

  1. The Command Line!
    • What is it, how does it work and how do I get to one.
      • A command line is a text based interface to the system. You can enter commands by typing them on the keyboard and feedback will be given to you similarly as text.
      • For Mac:Find the program Terminal under Applications -> Utilities. Fastest way, type command + space, then start typing ‘Terminal’ and it will show up.
      • For Linux: find it in Applications -> System or Applications -> Utilities. Also you can ‘right-click’ on the desktop and there may be an option ‘Open in terminal’.
  2. Basic Navigation!
    • An introduction to the Linux directory system and how to get around it.
      • ‘PWD(Print Working Directory)’, might be a great tool to copy and paste into another terminal, for reasons.
  3. More about Files
    • Find out some interesting characteristics of files and directories in a Linux environment.
      • Everything is a File...EVERYTHING
      • Spaces can be confusing for file names, so be careful, as in the command line these are how we separate items.
  4. Manual Pages
    • Learn how to make the most of the Linux commands you are learning.
      • Manual pages are set of pages that explain every command available on our system including what they do. Invoke the manual pages with the following command: man <command to look up>
      • man -k <search term>, will allow one to search within a manual page. THIS WILL SAVE SO MUCH EYE STRAIN! Type ‘/’ forward slash, followed by the term you would like to search for and hit ‘enter’. Cycle through the term by pressing ‘n’ for next.
  5. File Manipulation
    • How to make, remove, rename, copy and move files and directories.
      • Use mkdir [options]<Directory> to create a directory, and make your life easier.
      • Typing -p after mkdir and before the file will confirm what file you are adding and removing in the terminal. Without this, the terminal doesn’t confirm this.
      • cp Copies a file or directory.
      • mv Moves a file or directory as well as renaming.
      • rm Remove - ie. Delete a file.
  6. Cheat Sheet
    • Great resource for terminal information.

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