From the course: Learning Linux Command Line

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Understanding file paths

Understanding file paths - Linux Tutorial

From the course: Learning Linux Command Line

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Understanding file paths

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- [Instructor] In order to refer to locations on the file system, we use a path, a string of text that represents a file or directory within the file system. In a path, the lash character acts as a separator between directory names, leading to the directory or file for which we're writing a path. There are two kinds of path called absolute and relative. An absolute path starts from the root of the file system, the highest level of the structure where the files are stored, which remember is represented by the slash character. This allows us to define a full specific location from the highest level of the file system, all the way down to a specific directory or file. So for example, the absolute path to my home directory would be /home/Scott and the absolute path to my documents directory on my system would be /home/Scott/Documents. We can tell that these are absolute paths because they begin with a slash representing the…

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