Terminal 101: Mastering the Basics of Command Line Magic

Welcome to Terminal 101, where we’ll learn simple steps to unlock the power of your computer’s command line.

1. ls

• Lists directory contents.
• Tip: Use ls -l for a long format listing with detailed information. Think of ls as your room's window. A quick peek and you'll know if it's messy or not!

2. rmdir

• Removes empty directories.
• Tip: We use rm mostly.

3. cd

• cd is your teleport spell. Navigates between directories.
• Tip: Typing cd ~ quickly takes you to your home directory.

4. mkdir

• Creates a new directory.

5. cat

• Shows what’s inside a file.
• Tip: Concatenate two files using cat: file1.txt file2.txt > combined.txt.

6. man

• Accesses the command’s manual.
• Tip: Navigate with arrow keys or q to quit the man page.

7. less

• Views large files page by page.

8. touch

• Creates new files.

9. rm

• Deletes files or directories.
• Tip: To force to delete whether directory or not: rm -rf

10. echo

• Display a message on the terminal.
• Tip: — echo “Hello, World!” > file.txt — This will save “Hello, World!” in a file named file.txt without displaying it on the terminal. If file.txt already exists, this command will overwrite its contents. To append the text to the file instead of overwriting, use >>: — echo “Another line” >> file.txt -

Here's a little exercise for you

1. Navigate to your home directory:
   cd ~
2. Make a directory called "Frankfurt":
   mkdir Frankfurt
3. Move into `Frankfurt`:
   cd Frankfurt
4. List the directory contents:
   ls
5. Make a text called "halloo":
   touch halloo.text
6. Make a text called "gutenTag":
   touch gutenTag.text
7. Overwrite both files in one command:
   echo "Hallooooo" > halloo.text; echo "Guten taggg" > gutenTag.text
8. Concatenate two files using cat:
   cat halloo.text gutenTag.text > combined.text
9. List the directory contents (again):
   ls
   At this point, you should see the files 
 "halloo.text", "gutenTag.text", and "combined.text" listed.

10. Move out of `Frankfurt`:
   cd ..
11. Delete `Frankfurt`:
   rm -rf Frankfurt