Is there a command for going back a number of steps in a directory, without using cd?

I'm constantly going 'cd ../../../../'. Is there a command/alias that could let me go 'cmd 4' and I'd be taken back 4 directories?

Put this in your ~/.bashrc:

cdup() {
  levels=${1-1}
  while ((levels--)); do
    cd ..
  done
}

(The name cdup comes from the corresponding FTP command, just FYI.)

I was taught to use 'pushd' and 'popd' for such circumstances.

For example, type 'pushd .' and then 'cd /home'. Now type 'popd' and you will be back to where you started.

'pushd'/'popd' is a stack, you can push as many directories on there as you like, but it is last on, first off when you popd.

Sure, why not:

up() {
    [ $# = 0 ] && cd .. && return
    [ $1 = 0 ] && return
    cd .. && up $(($1 - 1))
}

Quick and dirty:

cmd () { dir=.; for i in $(seq 1 $1); do dir=$dir/..; done; pushd $dir; }

Formulated to only change directory once.

Here is an alternative way:

function cdup
{
    cd $(for ((i=0 ; i<$1 ;i++)); do printf "../" ; done)
}

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