Quest 2 · The terminal
Quest 2 · hands-on · ~25 min
🎯 Mission
You start with: a terminal (macOS: Terminal; Windows: Git Bash; Linux: any).
You finish with: a quest-log folder with a file in it, made without touching the mouse.
Quest complete when: ls inside quest-log shows README.md, and cat README.md prints your text.
Step 1 · Where am I?
pwd ls
✅ You should see: a path like /home/you or /Users/you, then the files and folders in it.
Step 2 · Make a folder and step inside
mkdir quest-log cd quest-log pwd
✅ You should see: a path ending in /quest-log.
Step 3 · Make a file and read it back
echo "# My Quest Log" > README.md ls cat README.md
✅ You should see: README.md listed, then the line # My Quest Log printed.
Step 4 · Go back up
cd .. pwd
✅ You should see: you're back in the folder you started in. .. always means "one level up".
pwd = "look around", ls = "check the room", cd = "walk through a door", mkdir = "build a new room".💡 What just happened (plain English)
Every dev tool you'll meet (git, npm, node, docker) is run from the terminal. Moving around confidently here saves you hours later.
🏁 Checkpoint
- ☐ `pwd` shows where I am
- ☐ I made quest-log with mkdir and entered it with cd
- ☐ README.md exists and cat prints it
🏆 Tick every box → achievement unlocked: Shell Walker (+50 XP)