What are absolute vs relative paths?

That's a great question! Understanding the difference between these two path types is key to navigating Linux efficiently.

An absolute path is the full address of a file or directory, starting from the very top of the system (the root /).

Always starts with: /
Analogy: Like a full mailing address including Country, State, City, and Street. No matter where you are, it always points to the same spot.
Example from this lab: /tmp/hello
- It starts at root (/), goes into tmp, then finds hello.

A relative path points to a file or directory relative to where you are currently "standing" (your Current Working Directory).

Does NOT start with: /
Analogy: Like giving directions from your current spot: "Go two doors down on the left."
Example:
If you are currently in the /home/labex folder and you want to access a folder named project:
- Relative Path: project
- Absolute Path: /home/labex/project

Feature	Absolute Path	Relative Path
Starts with	`/` (Root)	Name of a file/folder or `.` or `..`
Depends on location?	No	Yes
Use case	When you want to be precise regardless of where you are.	When you are already working inside a folder and want to access things nearby.

Pro Tip: In the terminal, you can type pwd (Print Working Directory) at any time to see your current absolute path!

Do you want to try moving between directories to see how relative paths change?