#1 What is a terminal?

What is a terminal?

A terminal (or console) is a program that lets you communicate with your computer by typing text commands. Instead of clicking buttons, you write what you want to do.

It's the fundamental tool of every developer. Don't panic: we start with 3 simple commands.

pwd — Where am I?

pwd stands for Print Working Directory. This command displays the folder you are currently in.

$ pwd
/home/user

whoami — Who am I?

whoami displays the name of the logged-in user.

$ whoami
user

echo — Display text

echo displays the text you give it. It's the "Hello World" of the terminal.

$ echo Hello!
Hello!

Your turn

Try the commands pwd, whoami and echo in the terminal below: