The Directory Structure

A file is kept inside a directory. A directory can have a file or another directory inside it. It is like an inverted tree.

The top-level directory is "/" called root. "/" directory does not have a parent. /A/B means B is inside A which is inside the top-level directory "root" denoted by /.

List Files and Directory

To see the list of files use the command: ls

Relative & Absolute Paths - Change the Directory

There are two ways to represent a file/directory path:

Absolute: This way of representing a file/directory is independent of the current directory of the user. Such paths start with "/". Example: The absolute path is the path of the directory from the root directory, like the path of 'john' directory, is actually '/home/john' as you can see in the tree structure

Relative: Relative to the current working directory. Example: Consider that you're currently in directory projects, the relative path from directory projects to directory john would be ../../../home/john it is like tracing the path back to / then to john.

You can change the directory using the cd command. Every user is given a separate home directory.

Home Directory & Current Directory

Inside the console, you are always in a directory. On login, by default, you land in your home directory.

To see the present working directory use: pwd

To change the directory to your home directory use only cd command without any arguments.