Command Line Interface

Learning how to use the command line interface (CLI or Terminal) is an essential skill for any software engineer. It is the primary interface used to interact with your computer, and as such, you will be using it every day to accomplish common tasks.

Alongside your text editor, it will become the most important item in your toolkit.

You'll learn many things in the coming weeks and months that will be much easier to grasp once you understand how to use the CLI:

• Installing software
• Using git
• Running your code
• Writing code

The alternative to the CLI is a graphical user interface (GUI), which is often available as a more accessible, user-friendly way of interacting with the computer. We will make use of these where appropriate (e.g. VSCode) but it is crucial that you get comfortable interacting with your machine in a more direct way.

If you think about a car, the interface you use to interact with it is the steering wheel, the pedals, etc. Driving a car with power steering, automatic transmission or cruise control is the equivalent of using a GUI. These things make it a nicer driving experience, but they distract you from what is going on under the bonnet, from how the car actually works. You are here to learn to be a developer, and that means being comfortable under the bonnet of the car, knowing how to use a spanner, how to use a screwdriver and when it's best to use one over the other.

Shall we start?