What is the Command Prompt?¶

The command prompt, or command line, is a way for you, a human, to tell the computer what to do: what programs to use or run or open, what files to access, stuff like that. (If we say “the command line” or “the terminal window” that means the same thing as “command prompt”. It’ll look slightly different depending on your operating system, and it may work differently in a few small ways depending on your operating system, but it’s all the same thing.)

The command prompt has a special language of its own so you can find places (directories, or folders) in your computer without navigating through the images of folders and clicking on stuff. You’ll be learning a few of the special commands that you can use at the command prompt.