Initial Setup

Here we show you how to:

  1. Open a Terminal
  2. Create a folder
  3. “Move into” that folder (change directory)

All the commands you need for these steps are included in this page. A cheatsheet is also available for quick reference.

If you already have a project folder created, simply skip the folder creation step, and move into the existing folder.

Open your Terminal

Click the Start menu, search for Commant Prompt, and click to open. When you open the application you should see a blinking cursor preceded by something like this:

C:\Users\abc1234>

The text before the cursor indicates what folder you are “in”.

Note

On Windows, the program used to run terminal commands is called Command Prompt.

Click the Launchpad (rocket icon), type Terminal, and press Enter to open it. You should see a prompt that looks like:

abc1234@Macbook %

The text prior to the cursor has your user name and the a name for the computer. You are “in” the home directory. To see where this directory is located, type the command pwd, then click Enter.

Open your terminal by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T or searching for Terminal in your applications menu. You should see a prompt similar to:

abc1234@Laptop:/

The text prior to the cursor has your user name and the a name for the computer. You are “in” the home directory. To see where this directory is located, type the command pwd, then click Enter.

Creating a Folder

The commands to make a directory and navigate into it are the same for Windows, Mac, and Linux. To create a new folder and move into it, use the following commands in your Command Prompt/Terminal:

mkdir my_project

Press Enter.

“Move Into” your Folder (Changing Directory)

To move into a folder (in this case named “my_project”), enter the following command:

cd my_project

mkdir my_project creates a folder named my_project. cd my_project changes into that folder. Any other project name could be used. For ease, it is better that the project names do not contain spaces, instead use - or _.

In windows, type cd and press enter to see the current directory. For Mac/Linux type pwd and press enter to see the current directory.

To leave that folder, and go one step up, you can enter the command cd ...

Setup a Python Environment

Setup an R Environment