How to use the command 'popd' (with examples)
The ‘popd’ command is used to remove directories from the directory stack that were previously added using the ‘pushd’ command. The directory stack stores a list of directories that can be accessed easily using the ‘pushd’ and ‘popd’ commands.
Use case 1: Remove the top directory from the stack and cd to it
Code:
popd
Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to quickly navigate back to the previous directory that was added to the stack using the ‘pushd’ command. The ‘popd’ command removes the top directory from the stack and changes the working directory to that directory.
Explanation: The ‘popd’ command without any arguments removes the top directory from the directory stack and changes the working directory to that directory.
Example output: Suppose the directory stack currently contains the following directories: /home/user/projects, /home/user/docs, and /home/user/downloads. Running the command ‘popd’ will remove ‘/home/user/projects’ from the stack and change the working directory to ‘/home/user/projects’.
Use case 2: Remove the Nth directory (starting from zero to the left from the list printed with dirs)
Code:
popd +N
Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to remove a specific directory from the stack, rather than the top directory. By specifying the index of the directory to be removed, you can remove any directory in the stack.
Explanation: The ‘+N’ argument specifies the index of the directory to be removed from the stack. The index starts from zero and is counted from the left side of the directories printed with the ‘dirs’ command.
Example output: Suppose the directory stack currently contains the following directories: /home/user/projects, /home/user/docs, and /home/user/downloads. Running the command ‘popd +1’ will remove ‘/home/user/docs’ from the stack.
Use case 3: Remove the Nth directory (starting from zero to the right from the list printed with dirs)
Code:
popd -N
Motivation: Similar to the previous use case, this example allows you to remove a specific directory from the stack. However, it allows you to specify the index of the directory to be removed from the right side of the directories printed with the ‘dirs’ command.
Explanation: The ‘-N’ argument specifies the index of the directory to be removed from the stack. The index starts from zero and is counted from the right side of the directories printed with the ‘dirs’ command.
Example output: Suppose the directory stack currently contains the following directories: /home/user/projects, /home/user/docs, and /home/user/downloads. Running the command ‘popd -1’ will remove ‘/home/user/downloads’ from the stack.
Use case 4: Remove the 1st directory (starting from zero to the left from the list printed with dirs)
Code:
popd -n
Motivation: This use case is useful when you want to remove the first directory from the stack. The first directory is counted from the left side of the directories printed with the ‘dirs’ command.
Explanation: The ‘-n’ argument removes the first directory from the stack, by specifying the index 0.
Example output: Suppose the directory stack currently contains the following directories: /home/user/projects, /home/user/docs, and /home/user/downloads. Running the command ‘popd -n’ will remove ‘/home/user/projects’ from the stack.
Conclusion:
The ‘popd’ command is a powerful tool for managing directories in the directory stack. It provides various options to remove directories from the stack based on their positions. This can be particularly useful when navigating between directories and needing to quickly go back to previous directories in the stack.
