Bootcamp directory structure

To help all students in the cohort understand and follow instructions that reference file locations, and to enable the instructors to assist the students as effectively as possible, we’ve adopted a standardized directory structure for all bootcamp participants. This is intended to have the least possible impact on other content you have stored on your system’s drive(s), and also to require the least possible (re)configuration of any continuous backup tools you might be using (e.g. OneDrive, Google Drive, DropBox).

It may be tempting to say to yourself “well, I have my own way of organizing the files and folders on my system, so I’ll stick with that.” Of course, that’s understandable; however, we can virtually guarantee you that using a directory structure other than that described here will slow you down in the bootcamp, especially at the start. Also, as a rule, we can’t take responsibility for helping you find any files or folders you might have misplaced—but we’re much more likely to be able to provide some assistance if your bootcamp content follows the same structure as the other students.

Structure

All of your bootcamp projects, documentation, and supporting files will be located within a bootcamp subdirectory inside your user home directory (on Windows, the user home directory is C:\Users\{username}; on OS X, it is /Users/{username}; on Ubuntu, /home/{username}—in all three cases, we’re using {username} here to represent your actual username). Inside the bootcamp directory, you will have specific subdirectories for different types of content.

The initial structure will be:

User home
- bootcamp
  - docs
  - projects

Creating the directory structure

Open a command shell.
- On Windows, this can be either the Windows Command Prompt, Git Bash, or PowerShell; all of these are accessible from the Start menu. In any case, do not run the application as an administrator.
- On OS X or Linux, open the Terminal program.
Verify (or navigate to) your user home directory.

In most cases, the current working directory for the shell, when it is first opened, is your user home directory. In Windows Command Prompt or PowerShell, you’ll see the full path of the current working directory as part of the prompt that appears to the left of the cursor. In Git Bash, or in the Bash or Z shell in the OS X or Linux Terminal program, you’ll see the last part of the current working directory, but possibly not the entire path.

To see the full current working directory displayed, type in the relevant command from this list:
- Windows Command Prompt
```
  cd
```
- Windows PowerShell, Git Bash, OS X Terminal, Linux Terminal
```
  pwd
```
If the current working directory is not your user home directory—or even if you’re just sure—type one of the commands below to change to that directory:
- Windows Command Prompt
```
  cd %USERPROFILE%
```
- Windows PowerShell, Git Bash, OS X Terminal, Linux Terminal
```
  cd ~
```
Create the initial bootcamp directory structure.

Now, you must create not only the bootcamp directory, but also the docs and projects subdirectories within it. This can be done using the Windows File Explorer, the OS X Finder, or the Ubuntu File Manager—but since you have a shell program already open, let’s use that. Please pay close attention to the spelling, casing, and direction of slashes as you enter the relevant command below.
- Windows Command Prompt
```
  mkdir bootcamp\docs && mkdir bootcamp\projects
```
- Windows PowerShell
```
  $(mkdir bootcamp/docs) -and $(mkdir bootcamp/projects)
```
- Git Bash, OS X Terminal, Linux Terminal
```
  mkdir -p bootcamp/docs && mkdir bootcamp/projects
```