Section 1 of 5
📍 Navigation & Discovery
Orient yourself in the terminal. These are the tools to figure out exactly where you are and what is around you.
| Action | Bash (Mac/Linux) | PowerShell (Windows) |
|---|---|---|
| Print Working Directory | pwd | Get-Location (or pwd) |
| List Files & Folders | ls | Get-ChildItem (or ls / dir) |
| Change Directory | cd | Set-Location (or cd) |
| Go Back One Folder | cd .. | cd .. |
| Go to Home Directory | cd ~ | cd ~ |
| Clear the Screen | clear | Clear-Host (or clear / cls) |
Example 1: The SNHU Project Deep Dive
# Jump straight from your home directory into your coursework folder cd ~/Documents/SNHU_Projects/Software_Engineering # Verify exactly where you landed pwd # List everything in this folder, including hidden config folders like .git ls -la
Example 2: The Fast Escape
# You are 5 folders deep and want to back out quickly # Go up one folder... cd .. # Go up TWO folders at once! cd ../../ # Terminal getting messy? Wipe it clean. clear
Section 2 of 5
📂 File & Folder Manipulation
The bread and butter of terminal work. Manage your project assets and scripts without ever touching a mouse.
| Action | Bash (Mac/Linux) | PowerShell (Windows) |
|---|---|---|
| Make a Directory | mkdir | mkdir (or New-Item -ItemType Directory) |
| Create Empty File | touch | ni (or New-Item) |
| Copy a File | cp | cp (or Copy-Item) |
| Copy a Folder | cp -r | Copy-Item -Recurse |
| Move / Rename | mv | mv (or Move-Item) |
| Delete a File | rm | rm (or Remove-Item) |
| Delete a Folder | rm -rf | Remove-Item -Recurse -Force |
Example 1: Scaffolding a Unity Project
# Create multiple folders at the exact same time mkdir Scripts Prefabs Audio Materials # Create two empty C# scripts instantly inside the Scripts folder touch Scripts/GameManager.cs Scripts/AnimalController.cs
Example 2: Backups and Organization
# Copy a crucial UI script before making risky changes cp UI_Controller.cs UI_Controller_BACKUP.cs # Move a completed track into the Teq Vault music release folder mv Towards_The_Light_Mix1.wav ../Releases/ # Oops, spelled it wrong. Let's rename it using the move command! mv Towards_The_Light_Mix1.wav Towards_The_Light_Final.wav
Example 3: The Danger Zone (Use with caution)
# Delete a single old test build file rm QUETIEMALS_Alpha_v1.apk # FORCE delete an entire folder and everything inside it (No undo!) rm -rf Old_Test_Project/
Section 3 of 5
🔍 Searching & Viewing
Quickly find specific lines of code or track down missing scripts directly from the command line without opening your IDE.
| Action | Bash (Mac/Linux) | PowerShell (Windows) |
|---|---|---|
| View File Contents | cat | cat (or Get-Content) |
| Search Inside Files | grep | sls (or Select-String) |
| Find a File by Name | find . -name | Get-ChildItem -Filter -Recurse |
| View Log Updates | tail -f | Get-Content -Wait |
Example 1: Reading Files on the Fly
# Check what dependencies your Python project needs without opening VS Code cat requirements.txt
Example 2: The Code Detective (grep/sls)
# BASH: Find every line where the word "health" appears in the AnimalManager script grep "health" AnimalManager.cs # BASH: Find the word "biome" across ALL scripts in the current folder (case-insensitive) grep -ri "biome" . # POWERSHELL equivalent for the above sls "biome" *.cs
Example 3: Finding Lost Files
# BASH: Find all custom OpenGL shader files nested anywhere inside this project find . -name "*.glsl" # POWERSHELL equivalent for finding files Get-ChildItem -Filter "*.glsl" -Recurse
Section 4 of 5
⚙️ System & Processes
Crucial commands for troubleshooting when an IDE hangs, or a local server port won't close.
| Action | Bash (Mac/Linux) | PowerShell (Windows) |
|---|---|---|
| Show Running Processes | top or htop | gps (or Get-Process) |
| Kill a Process | kill <PID> | Stop-Process -Id <PID> |
| Check Network IP | ifconfig or ip a | ipconfig |
| Test Connection | ping | ping (or Test-Connection) |
Example 1: Un-Freezing Your Workspace
# POWERSHELL: PyCharm has totally frozen. Find its process ID (PID) gps -Name "pycharm*" # Let's say the PID is 14032. Force quit it. Stop-Process -Id 14032 -Force # BASH: Same thing, finding the process top # Then kill it kill -9 14032
Example 2: Network Diagnostics
# Find your local IP Address (useful for testing mobile games on your local WiFi) # WINDOWS: ipconfig # MAC/LINUX: ifconfig # Test if your server (or the internet) is actually responding ping google.com
🛑
Emergency Stop
If a script is caught in an infinite loop or a local testing server is running and you want to stop it, hit Ctrl + C. It acts as the universal emergency brake in the terminal.
Section 5 of 5
🧑💻 Developer Workflow
The daily routines. The most frequent command strings you'll use for version control and virtual environments.
Python VENVs
Bash: source venv/bin/activate
PS: .\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
Exit: deactivate
Dependencies
Install your project requirements:pip install -r requirements.txt
Pro-Tip: Chaining
Use && to run commands back-to-back.git add . && git status
Example 1: The Daily Git Routine
# 1. Check what files you've modified today git status # 2. Stage all the changes to be saved git add . # 3. Commit the changes with a highly descriptive message git commit -m "Refactored PyMongo CRUD module and updated Jupyter notebook tests" # 4. Push to the remote repository (GitHub, GitLab, etc.) git push origin main
Example 2: Setting up a Python Backend
# 1. Create a brand new virtual environment named "venv" python -m venv venv # 2. Turn it on (Windows PowerShell example) .\venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1 # 3. Install packages safely inside the bubble pip install pymongo # 4. Turn it off when you're done for the day deactivate
⌨️
Terminal Super-Trick
Never type a full folder name. Type the first few letters (like
cd QUE) and hit TAB. The terminal will auto-complete it for you. Also, use the Up Arrow to cycle through previously typed commands!