"It works on my machine"

A developer writes a script: cat ./config/settings.json Runs it from the project directory, and it works perfectly. Pushes to production, the deploy succeeds... and the app crashes. The error log says just one line: No such file or directory.

The script ran from a different directory on the server. ./config/settings.json only works if you're in the right place: one cd away, and the path breaks. This is the classic relative path trap. That's why experienced engineers use absolute paths in scripts and automation. A relative path is convenient when you're navigating by hand, but a script doesn't know "where it is" the way you do.

Knowing when to use which path is what separates someone who uses the terminal from someone who truly understands it.