Environment Variables

Environment variables are named values stored in your shell session. Programs use them for configuration.

Key concepts

• echo $HOME — read a variable (note the $ prefix)
• MY_VAR="hello" — set a variable (no spaces around =!)
• export MY_VAR="hello" — set and make available to child processes
• env — list all environment variables

Common built-in variables

• $HOME — your home directory
• $USER — your username
• $PATH — where the system looks for commands
• $PWD — current working directory

Your Task

Create an environment variable called PROJECT_NAME with the value terminal-course, then display it using echo. The output should show terminal-course.