# Absolute and Relative Paths

* A path identifies the location of a file or directory.

## Absolute Paths

* An absolute path always starts **from the root directory** **`/`**.
* It is valid from anywhere on the file system, use it when certain of the location.
* Sometimes relative path can be longer than the absolute path, so an absolute path is prefered.

```bash
ls /var/log/syslog
# /var/log/syslog is an absolute path to the syslog file
```

## Relative Paths

* A relative path starts **from the current directory** to the resource.
* Is generally shorter than an absolute path, used for similar local directory structures, for projects.

```bash
cd /var
ls log/syslog
# log/syslog is a relative path

ls ./log/syslog
# Using "." it specifies the commands starts in the current working directory

ls ../home/user/Documents/
# ".." is the parrent of the current working directory
```

***


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