Without a leading forward slash, longer paths are assumed to start from the current working directory, too, as shown below: cd dev/mobile/android If you reference the directory as dev, as shown below, it assumes you mean the directory in the work directory: cd dev The cd command behaves like ls in this respect. To force it to look at the вЂњdevвЂќ in the root directory, just add a leading forward slash to represent the root of the filesystem, as shown below: ls -d dev -hl ls -d /dev -hl If you type dev, the shell assumes you mean the вЂњdevвЂќ in the current directory. The -hl (human-readable, long listing) option tells ls to use easy to read units for the directory sizes, and the long format listing. You can use lsВ with -d (directory) to look at each of these. ThereвЂ™s also a directory called dev in the root directory of the filesystem. The work directory contains a directory called dev. You can use the tree command to see the directory tree inside the work directory-just type the following: tree In the home directory, thereвЂ™s a directory called work. Relative paths are referenced from the current working directory.

These are examples of absolute paths, in which you provide the entire path from the root of the filesystem to the target directory, to cd. You can use the tilde ( ~)В as a shorthand way to quickly return to the home directory from anywhere in the filesystem just type the following: There isnвЂ™t one on the second because that one was typed. ThatвЂ™s also why thereвЂ™s a trailing forward slash on the first command. The shell adds a trailing forward slash so you can repeat the tab-completion process. If you add вЂњ/bвЂќ to the path and press Tab again, it adds the вЂњbrowserвЂќ directory to the command. Now, press Tab and the shell will fill in the rest of the вЂњfirefoxвЂќ directory for you. For each part of a path, after you type enough letters to distinguish the name of the directory from the others, press Tab to auto-complete the directory name.ДЇor example, type the following on the command line: cd /usr/lib/fire

You donвЂ™t have to type the whole directory path you can use auto-complete. If weвЂ™re in the home directory, but want to change to one located at /usr/lib/firefox/browser, and then return to the home directory, we can use the following commands: cd /usr/lib/firefox/browser/ cd /home/dave

Cd to home directory