File It Away

The computers we use have file systems. A disk drive is much like a file cabinet, with the exception that we put file folders inside other file folders. This helps us find things. The sequence of folders that represents a file's location is called its path.

Different Strokes

The Windows Operating System (OS) uses backslashes ('\') as path delimiters. Other OSes and shells like Git Bash use forward slashes ('/') as path delimiters.

Windows also uses drive letters(C:) unlike other OSes, so Git Bash interprets them differently as well.

The Windows path C:\foo\bar

is represented in Git Bash as /c/foo/bar.

In Windows, you will see this path as your location in an Explorer window.

Can One Ever Go Home?

By default, you are logged in to your WCCI laptop as a user named "WeCanCodeIT".

Each user on a computer has a folder where the user's personal files are stored. In Git Bash and Linux(-like) OSes, We call this the 'home' folder. The same concept exists in Windows but it's a bit hidden from the casual user.

Home folder in Git Bash: /c/Users/WeCanCodeIT

The Windows path C:\Users\WeCanCodeIT

is represented in Git Bash as /c/Users/WeCanCodeIT.

What the Tilde?

Your home folder in Git Bash can be (and often is) represented by a tilde (~) character.

What's in Here?

In git bash, you can list the contents of your current directory with ls:

$ ls

To see them in long form, use the -l switch:

$ ls -l

To see them all (including hidden files that start with a '.'), use -a:

$ ls -a

Or both:

$ ls -la

Finding your current directory

When you are at a GitBash prompt, your prompt will show your current directory, which may include ~ to represent the current path:

WeCanCodeIT@WeCanCodeIT-48 MINGW64 ~/source/repos

In order to Print the Working Directory (the current directory), use the pwd command:

$ pwd
/c/Users/WeCanCodeIT/source/repos