Master Terminal Basics

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90 minutes

5 steps

·Beginner

After 90 min: Comfortable navigating and managing files entirely through the command line

What you need

LaptopTerminal application

The 90-Minute Plan

Open & Explore0–15 min

Open Terminal (Mac) or PowerShell (Windows). Type 'pwd' to see your location.

Navigate Directories15–35 min

Use 'ls' to list files, 'cd' to change folders, and 'mkdir' to create new directories.

Manage Files35–55 min

Practice 'cp' (copy), 'mv' (move), and 'rm' (delete) commands with test files.

View & Edit Files55–75 min

Use 'cat' to view files, 'grep' to search, and 'nano' to edit text files.

Ship & next steps75–90 min

Complete a project using only terminal. Next: learn about permissions and piping.

Pro Tip

Use 'man' command to read help for any command. Mistakes are hard to undo, so double-check before deleting.

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