changing directoies on Apple's Terminal program

November 18, 2010 9:13 PM

Can someone tell me how to do this: "cd to the google-python-exercises directory"

Here's the link; see under the section "Python on Linux, Mac OS X, etc."

I'm on a MacBook Pro, trying to teach myself Python. I've heard good things about this Python course that Google put together.

Problem is, I am brand new to the Mac and can't figure out how to change directories in the terminal window. (I've spent all of my computing history on Windows machines.)

On my computer, the unzipped folder google-python-exercises is in the Documents folder.

When I open the Terminal application, I see:

Last login: Thu Nov 18 16:54:50 on console
Dave-Friedmans-MacBook-Pro:~ davefriedman$

So, I (think I) need to know how to change the directory to the folder google-python-exercises

Yes, I'm sure this is pretty simple.

Thanks for the help.

posted by dfriedman to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

Best answer: cd ~/Documents/google-python-exercises
posted by pompomtom at 9:19 PM on November 18, 2010

Where did you unzip the google-python-exercises.zip file? If it's in your home folder (i.e. davefriendman), just type cd ~/google-python-exercises. If it's on your desktop, type cd ~/Desktop/google-python-exercises in Terminal.
posted by halogen at 9:22 PM on November 18, 2010

Oh, never mind – pompomtom got it.
posted by halogen at 9:22 PM on November 18, 2010

Best answer: To learn more about the command line environment and how to use it effectively, parts 1-3 of this tutorial might serve you well, and use this quick cheat-sheet to look things up if, for example, you forget the name of a particular utility.
posted by whatnotever at 9:55 PM on November 18, 2010 [1 favorite]

Also, most of what you do in a Terminal window is the same on OSX as on any other UNIX-alike; tutorials for Linux and other unix machines will be generally applicable.
posted by hattifattener at 10:29 PM on November 18, 2010

cd, ls, ls -l, and cd .. are your friends.
posted by irishcoffee at 12:29 AM on November 19, 2010

Usually linux commands and OSX commands are the same, so if you can't find help for mac, try searching for linux help.
posted by empath at 5:51 AM on November 19, 2010