Lesson 3 of 12 · about 12 minutes · mkdir, mkdir -p, touch and tree.
⚡ 0 XP
Step 1 of 2
mkdir and touch
mkdir name makes a new folder (make directory). touch name.txt makes a new, empty file. You can give several names at once: touch menu.txt prices.txt.
Tip: avoid spaces in names. Use chai-stall or chai_stall, not chai stall — a space splits it into two names!
Example
mkdir tiffin
cd tiffin
touch monday.txt tuesday.txt
ls
🎯 Challenge: Open your chai stall +10 XP
Make a folder chai-stall in your home, go into it, and create two empty files: menu.txt and prices.txt. End inside ~/chai-stall.
Try twice to unlock the solution (0/2)
terminalCtrl ⏎
A safe practice terminal. Type a command and press Enter. Type help to list commands. Tab completes names, ↑ recalls the last command.
Files · ~ = /home/asha
Your home folder is empty.
Git timeline
No git repository yet. Start with git init.
Checklist
Press Run to check your code.
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~/chai-stall exists
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menu.txt exists
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prices.txt exists
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You are inside ~/chai-stall
Lesson notes (text version)
1. mkdir and touch
mkdir name makes a new folder (make directory). touch name.txt makes a new, empty file. You can give several names at once: touch menu.txt prices.txt.
Tip: avoid spaces in names. Use chai-stall or chai_stall, not chai stall — a space splits it into two names!
mkdir tiffin
cd tiffin
touch monday.txt tuesday.txt
ls
Challenge: Open your chai stall
Make a folder chai-stall in your home, go into it, and create two empty files: menu.txt and prices.txt. End inside ~/chai-stall.
2. mkdir -p and tree
Need folders inside folders inside folders? Plain mkdir photos/2026/diwali fails if photos does not exist yet. The flag -p (parents) makes every missing folder on the way: mkdir -p photos/2026/diwali.
tree draws your folders as a neat picture, so you can check what you built.
mkdir -p notes/class10/science
tree
Challenge: A home for Diwali photos
Inside the existing chai-stall folder, create photos/2026/diwali with a singlemkdir -p command (so the full path is ~/chai-stall/photos/2026/diwali). Then run tree to see the result.