Add some context to computer basics

Author: Susan Vanderplas

graveyard.qmd

@@ -60,13 +60,6 @@ Otherwise, launch your system menu (usually with the Super/Windows key) and type
 
 :::
 
-#### File Path Structure
-
-On Windows, file paths are constructed as follows: `C:\Folder 1\Folder_2\file.R`. Paths are *generally* not case sensitive, so you can reference the same file path as `c:\folder 1\folder_2\file.R`. Usually, paths are encased in `""` because spaces make interpreting file paths complicated and Windows paths have lots of spaces.
-
-On Unix systems, file paths are constructed as follows: `/home/user/folder1/folder2/file.R`. Paths are case sensitive, so you cannot reach `/home/user/folder1/folder2/file.R` if you use `/home/user/folder1/folder2/file.r`. On Unix systems, spaces in file paths must be escaped with `\`, so any space character in a terminal should be typed `\ ` instead. 
-
-This quickly gets complicated and annoying when working on code that is meant for multiple operating systems. These complexities are why when you're constructing a file path in R or python, you should use commands like `file.path("folder1", "folder2", "file.r")` or `os.path.join("folder1", "folder2", "file.py")`, so that your code will work on Windows, Mac, and Linux by default.
 
 #### Basic Terminal Commands
 

part-tools/01-computer-basics.qmd

@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ When working on code, we will typically assume that the **working directory** (w
 
 @picardiProjectOrganization2024 discusses several common layouts used for research projects.
 
-### Using Paths to Navigate
+#### Using Paths to Navigate
 
 File paths can be a bit tricky to construct, but there are a couple of shorthands that help a lot:
 
@@ -266,6 +266,19 @@ Let's think about a path like `../../../other-dir/other-data.csv`:
 
 :::
 
+#### Constructing File Paths
+
+On Windows, file paths are constructed as follows: `C:\Folder 1\Folder_2\file.R`. Paths are *generally* not case sensitive, so you can reference the same file path as `c:\folder 1\folder_2\file.R`. Usually, paths are encased in `""` because spaces make interpreting file paths complicated and Windows paths have lots of spaces.
+
+On Unix systems, file paths are constructed as follows: `/home/user/folder1/folder2/file.R`. Paths are case sensitive, so you cannot reach `/home/user/folder1/folder2/file.R` if you use `/home/user/folder1/folder2/file.r`. On Unix systems, spaces in file paths must be escaped with `\`, so any space character in a terminal should be typed `\ ` instead. 
+
+
+::: callout
+It's easier to just not use spaces in file paths, which you quickly find out when you've had to type paths into the terminal a few times, or if you ever use LaTeX [@xieDontUseSpaces2018].
+:::
+
+This quickly gets complicated and annoying when working on code that is meant for multiple operating systems. These complexities are why when you're constructing a file path in R or python, you should use commands like `file.path("folder1", "folder2", "file.r")` or `os.path.join("folder1", "folder2", "file.py")`, so that your code will work on Windows, Mac, and Linux by default.
+
 ## System Paths
 
 When you install software, it is saved in a specific location on your computer, like C:/Program Files/ on {{< fa brands windows >}}, /Applications/ on {{< fa brands apple >}}, or /usr/local/bin/ on {{< fa brands linux >}}.

references.bib

@@ -2223,3 +2223,14 @@ @misc{AllHTTPStatus2023
   urldate = {2025-08-19},
   file = {/home/susan/Nextcloud/Zotero/storage/BBK3S7G6/all_http_status_codes_are_explained.html}
 }
+
+@online{xieDontUseSpaces2018,
+	title = {Don't Use Spaces or Underscores in File Paths; Use Dashes Instead},
+	url = {https://yihui.org/en/2018/03/space-pain/},
+	abstract = {Recently I received a few bug reports about the {PDF} generation in R Markdown. Eventually I figured out one of the reasons: spaces in filenames. For example, in rstudio/rmarkdown\#1285, xelatex failed \…},
+	titleaddon = {Blog},
+	author = {Xie, Yihui},
+	urldate = {2025-08-20},
+	date = {2018-03-15},
+	langid = {american},
+}