Practice Use drills for recall and labs for real operating judgment.

LAB-NAV-02 - Paths, Symbols & Tab Completion

Master absolute vs relative paths, decode Linux symbols (., .., ~), and use Tab completion to reduce mistakes and effort.

NAV Navigation Mastery

Paths, Symbols & Tab Completion

Master absolute vs relative paths, decode Linux symbols (., .., ~), and use Tab completion to reduce mistakes and effort.

45 min BEGINNER LINUX Field-verified
Prerequisites
Lab LAB-NAV-01 - First Steps: pwd, ls, cd
Success criteria
  • Use absolute and relative paths correctly and rely on Tab completion instead of typing long paths from scratch.
  • Repeat the workflow without copy-paste or step-by-step prompting.

Part A: The Field Guide

What and Why

Navigation gets easier once you stop treating every path as a fresh string to memorize.

Paths follow a few consistent rules. Learn those rules and the terminal becomes much less fragile.

The Core Distinction

Absolute paths

Absolute paths start from the top.

Examples:

  • /var/log
  • /etc/passwd

Relative paths

Relative paths start from where you are now.

Examples:

  • Documents
  • ../Downloads

The golden rule

If a Linux path starts with /, it is absolute. If it does not, it is relative.

The Three Symbols You Need

..

Go up one level.

.

Means the current location.

~

Means your home directory.

Symbols in Use

pwd cd .. cd ~ ./script.sh

Tab Completion

Tab completion is not a luxury feature. It is an error-reduction tool.

Use it because it helps you:

  • type less
  • catch wrong folder names earlier
  • learn real path names faster

If nothing completes, pause and check spelling or location.

Common Beginner Failure Points

These show up constantly:

  • using a relative path from the wrong starting place
  • confusing / with ~
  • forgetting that ./script.sh means “run the script in this directory”
  • ignoring Tab completion and making avoidable typos

Part B: The Drill Deck

Terminal Required: Use your Linux terminal for these exercises.

G
Guided Step by step - type exactly this and compare the result
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Exercise G1: Absolute versus relative

  1. Run cd /tmp.
  2. Run pwd.
  3. Try cd var and notice why it fails.
  4. Run cd /var and notice why it works.
  5. Run cd log and confirm where you landed.

Exercise G2: Use the symbols

  1. From /var/log, run cd ...
  2. Run pwd.
  3. Run cd ~.
  4. Run pwd.
  5. Explain the difference between .. and ~.

Exercise G3: Try Tab completion

  1. Start at /.
  2. Type cd u and press Tab.
  3. Continue into /usr and one subdirectory using Tab completion as much as possible.
  4. If completion does nothing, stop and inspect why.
S
Solo Task described, hints available - figure it out
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Exercise S1: Absolute jumps

Use only absolute paths to visit:

  1. /etc
  2. /var/log
  3. /usr
  4. /tmp

Verify each with pwd.

Exercise S2: Relative crawling

Start in /usr/share and reach /usr and then /tmp using relative movement and .. where appropriate.

Exercise S3: Home shortcuts

From /var/log, do all three:

  1. list the contents of your home directory without moving there
  2. jump to your home directory
  3. jump back to the previous directory if your shell supports cd -
M
Mission Real scenario - no hints, combine multiple skills
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Mission M1: Minimal typing

Pick a deep directory that exists on your machine, such as /usr/share or /var/log.

Navigate there using Tab completion as much as possible. The goal is to reduce typing errors, not to win a speed contest.

Mission M2: Explain the path, not just the command

For each of these, explain why it works before you run it:

  1. cd /var/log
  2. cd ..
  3. cd ~
  4. ./script.sh

If you can explain the rule behind each one, you understand more than just the syntax.