Welcome to the Treehouse Community

Want to collaborate on code errors? Have bugs you need feedback on? Looking for an extra set of eyes on your latest project? Get support with fellow developers, designers, and programmers of all backgrounds and skill levels here with the Treehouse Community! While you're at it, check out some resources Treehouse students have shared here.

Looking to learn something new?

Treehouse offers a seven day free trial for new students. Get access to thousands of hours of content and join thousands of Treehouse students and alumni in the community today.

Start your free trial

Development Tools Introduction to the Terminal The Command Shell Command Arguments and Options

Posted by Delicia Wharton
.a{fill-rule:evenodd;}techdegree
Delicia Wharton
UX Design Techdegree Student 11,098 Points

Commands - I got through some more videos but failed the quiz, it's going over my head.

I've read the teachers notes, saved them onto my desktop, watched the video several times, and I can't seem to remember how to do anything. Commands (the intro in general) and then Options, which I found easier to read but I haven't gotten a single question right on the quiz.

Could someone explain Command Arguments and Command Options to me in simpler terms? I'm concerned about going ahead before I understand this.

1 Answer

Steven Parker
Steven Parker
229,744 Points
Steven Parker
Steven Parker
229,744 Points

Was the answer to your previous question any help?

It might help to think of the command as WHAT you want to happen, the options as HOW you want it done, and the arguments as WHERE the action should be performed. And in a Linux system, options are almost always a hyphen and a a letter,(like "-n") or two hyphens and a word (like "--color").

And for tips that might help for remembering, you might find something useful in the How To Learn course.