10.Absolute_Vs_Relative_Paths.md

Absolute Path vs Relative Path

Absolute Path:

An absolute path is the path from the root (/) to the destination, meaning it is the complete path.

Relative Path:

A relative path is the path from the current working directory to the destination directory. It is always relative to the current location.

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Example Directory Structure:

home
  └── akshay
      └── Desktop
          ├── X
          │   ├── X1
          │   │   ├── X11
          │   │   └── X12
          │   └── X2
          └── Y
              ├── Y1
              │   ├── Y11
              │   └── Y12
              └── Y2

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Command to create the directory structure:

mkdir -p x/x1/x1{1,2} x/x2 y/y1/y1{1,2} y/y2

Output of tree command:

/F  [error opening dir]
test
├── x
│   ├── x1
│   │   ├── x11
│   │   └── x12
│   └── x2
└── y
    ├── y1
    │   ├── y11
    │   └── y12
    └── y2

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Examples of Absolute and Relative Paths:

Example 1: Changing from x11 directory to y2 directory

• Absolute Path:

  $ cd /home/akshay/Desktop/y/y2
  $ cd ~/Desktop/y/y2

• Relative Path:

  $ cd ./../../../y/y2
  $ cd ../../../y/y2

Example 2: Changing from y2 directory to x11

• Absolute Path:

  $ cd /home/akshay/Desktop/x/x1/x11
  $ cd ~/Desktop/x/x1/x11

• Relative Path:

  $ cd ../../x/x1/x11

Example 3: Creating a new directory y21 inside y2 without entering into y2

• Absolute Path:

  $ mkdir /home/akshay/Desktop/y/y2/y21
  $ mkdir ~/Desktop/y/y2/y21

• Relative Path:

  $ mkdir ../../../y/y2/y21