The command line seems formidable at first, but with a few weeks of practice, you may find yourself moving faster and more comfortably than when using graphical applications. Everything you do in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) can be done with a few commands, usually much more efficiently: watching videos, listening to music, sending Tweets, opening files, and of course writing and manipulating code.
Generally speaking, command line tools are standardized and portable (what works on one computer will work on another) in Unix-like environments (Linux, BSD, and Mac OS). The default Windows command line experience is non-standard, but fortunately you can install a Unix-like environment in Windows (see links below).
How to Learn
If you are using Linux, BSD, or Mac OS, you already have everything you need at your disposal. On Mac, open Terminal.app from Spotlight. On Linux and BSD, open your distribution’s terminal application.
If you’re on Windows, you’ll need to install some extra software:
- Windows 10: install WSL
- Other versions: install the latest release of Git Bash
You can also learn online without installing or configuring any extra software here.
Resources
- A Command Line Crash Course
- The very basics of using the command line
- Learn Enough Command Line to Be Dangerous
- Free book on basic and intermediate usage
- In the Beginning was the Command Line
- Short book on some of the history and power of the command line