Commands for interacting with the terminal

The terminal lets you control your computer by typing commands instead of clicking. These commands tend to have two or three parts:

$ [command] [options] [target]
  meaning example
command What you want the computer to do python, cd, ls
options (Optional) Extra flags that change how it runs -l, --version
target What you want the command to act on greeting.py, Lesson0

Some useful examples to get familiar with

Run a Python Script

$ python greeting.py

python - the command to run Python
greeting.py - the file you want to run

Change Folders

$ cd Lesson0

cd - the command to change directory
Lesson0 - the folder to move into

List Files in a Folder

$ ls

or for more details:

$ ls -l

ls - command to list files
-l - option for long format (shows more detail)

Show the Current Folder

$ pwd

pwd - command to “print” (to terminal) the path to the working directory; this shows you where you are in the file system

Quick Command Reference

Action Command
Run a Python file python file.py
Move into a folder cd folder-name
Move up one folder cd ..
List files ls
Show current folder path pwd
Clear the screen clear

Beginner Tips

Use spaces between each part

✅ Correct:

$ cd ..

❌ Incorrect:

$ cd..

(Notice the lack of space between cd and ..)

File names are case sensitive

greeting.py is not the same as Greeting.py.

Press Tab to autocomplete

Start typing a file or folder name, then press Tab. The terminal will try to finish the name for you.

Example:

$ python gr[TAB]

becomes:

$ python greeting.py


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