“What happens when you open a web browser and enter google.com?” Many of us recall being asked this question before. I think it leaves an impression because navigating web pages is this magical process that we take for granted. We do it hundreds, if not thousands of times per day without knowing how it works. Most developers and engineers can explain parts of it, but the depth at which you can discuss this question is infinite.

Today, we’ll discuss the details of something else we take for granted: the terminal. What happens when you open a terminal emulator and enter “ls”? Like with browsers, there is too much content to fit into one blog post. We’ll give you what we think are the interesting details.