Command Line Basics

Before mastering Git, you need to be comfortable with the command line. Git is primarily a terminal tool, and knowing basic navigation commands will make your Git workflow significantly faster. This episode covers the essential terminal commands you'll use alongside Git every day.

Opening the Terminal

• macOS: Open Terminal (Cmd + Space, type "Terminal") or iTerm2
• Windows: Open Git Bash (installed with Git) or PowerShell
• Linux: Open Terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T on most distros)
• VS Code: Press Ctrl + ` to toggle the built-in terminal

Navigating Directories

# Print current directory (where you are)
pwd
# Output: /Users/yourname

# List files and folders
ls          # Basic list
ls -la      # Detailed list (includes hidden files like .git)
ls -lah     # Same but with human-readable file sizes

# Change directory
cd Documents          # Go into Documents
cd Documents/projects # Go deeper
cd ..                 # Go up one level
cd ../..              # Go up two levels
cd ~                  # Go to home directory
cd /                  # Go to root directory
cd -                  # Go back to previous directory

Creating and Removing

# Create a directory
mkdir my-project
mkdir -p projects/web/my-app    # Create nested directories

# Create a file
touch index.html
touch src/app.js src/utils.js   # Create multiple files

# Remove a file
rm old-file.txt

# Remove a directory (must be empty)
rmdir empty-folder

# Remove a directory and ALL contents (careful!)
rm -rf my-folder

Moving and Copying

# Copy a file
cp original.txt copy.txt
cp original.txt ../backup/      # Copy to another directory

# Copy a directory
cp -r src/ backup-src/

# Move (or rename) a file
mv old-name.txt new-name.txt    # Rename
mv file.txt ../documents/       # Move to another directory

# Move a directory
mv old-folder/ new-location/

Reading Files

# Display file contents
cat README.md

# Display with line numbers
cat -n app.js

# View large files page by page
less large-file.log
# Press 'q' to quit, Space for next page, 'b' for previous

# View first/last lines
head -20 file.txt    # First 20 lines
tail -20 file.txt    # Last 20 lines

Useful Shortcuts

# Tab completion — saves so much typing!
cd Doc[TAB]           # Auto-completes to "Documents"

# Command history
history               # Show recent commands
# Up/Down arrows to cycle through previous commands

# Clear the screen
clear                 # Or press Ctrl + L

# Cancel a running command
# Ctrl + C

# Search previous commands
# Ctrl + R, then type to search

Working with Paths

# Absolute path — starts from root
cd /Users/yourname/projects/my-app

# Relative path — relative to current location
cd projects/my-app        # From home directory
cd ./src                  # ./ means "current directory"
cd ../other-project       # ../ means "parent directory"

Finding Things

# Find files by name
find . -name "*.js"              # All .js files in current directory tree
find . -name "package.json"      # Find specific file

# Search inside files
grep "TODO" src/*.js             # Find "TODO" in JS files
grep -r "function" src/          # Search recursively in a directory
grep -rn "error" logs/           # With line numbers

What's Next

You're now comfortable with the terminal. In the next episode, we'll create your first Git repository and understand the .git directory — the brain of every Git project.