Chapter 1: The machine

Most arguments are places. A command needs to know where.

Path

The written address of a file or folder. An absolute path starts from the top, as in /home/you/notes.txt, and means the same everywhere. A relative path, as in src/cart.js, starts from where you are. .. means the folder above and ~ means your home folder.

A relative path is right from one place only, and agents get lost in big projects. No such file or directory often means a correct path from the wrong folder. And an absolute path that works on your machine, an agent's favourite shortcut, works nowhere else.

Say it to your agent

“That path only works on my machine. Replace /Users/me/shop/data with a path relative to the project root, then run it from a different folder to prove it still works.”

The workshop

Name a word, or describe what you mean in everyday language.