running apps from terminal

Hey, what do I have to do to run applications from the terminal? I think the way to do it is using symbolic links, but I'm not sure exactly how to proceed. My understanding is that you do something like (pseudo-code):

ln -s full/path/to/application desiredCallName

(When I tried this with the app TextEdit, I tried typing TextEdit from my home directory but it said it was a folder).

Thanks for the help.

In this case, you'd simply type:

It might have treated it as a folder because it kind of is. If you "right click" on any application you'll get "Show Folder Contents" which will open up the different things that make up the program. Djames is right. By adding the .app on it it understands it has to perform what the contents of that folder say and not just open them individually.

ignore this... it's not really here