Learn by Yourself
You will forget commands. Everyone does.
Every time you have a question or want to dive deeper, use these built-in tools.
Programming is about knowing how to look for stuff, not memorization.
Quick Help commands¶
| If you want to... | Command | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Get a one-line description | whatis <command> |
Shows a brief summary of the command |
| Read the full manual | man <command> |
Opens the complete official documentation. Q to quit |
| Get a quick summary | <command> --help |
Prints common options and usage |
Example¶
whatis ls
# Output: ls - list directory contents
man ls
# Opens the full manual page
ls --help
# Shows all options for the ls command
How to Terminal teaches you the tools you will most frequently need. You can always go in extra depth with these tips.