Those of you old enough to remember when the earliest computers were introduced may recall MS-DOS and other command-line systems. The first computers did not have pretty desktops like we have come to expect today and were only told what to do using a series of written commands.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Desktops have largely replaced command-line interfaces for modern users and with good reason: it takes a lot of work to navigate a command line. Who wants to type in a command to find a file when you can just use your desktop? While the command line may not be as useful for ordinary users, it can give programmers superpowers.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Command lines may seem intimidating. There\u2019s lots of black and white text, and sometimes you can see scary error messages. In this guide, we\u2019re going to help you get to grips with the command line so you\u2019ll be ready to work with command line interfaces like a professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Consider the following scenario: you need to read the first three lines of all the files in a folder. You could go and find those files on your desktop and then open them all individually, but that would take a lot of work. What if you wanted to search all of those files?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not a feature of desktop-based interfaces because most consumers don\u2019t need to use it. Programmers, on the other hand, do often need these features.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The command line is still used widely by developers because it gives you more control over your computer. You can find files, navigate through your computer, monitor processes and perform a number of other tasks through the command line. You can even sign in to other computers and access their command line interfaces, if you have permission to log in.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The command line is most associated with Linux users and system administrators, but it\u2019s a tool most developers use at some point. To install Python on your computer, you can either download IDLE online or you can use the command line. But to run a complex program and install its libraries, you may have to use the command line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The command line allows you to navigate through your computer and run programs. You can think of the command line as a way to talk directly with your computer. Whereas desktop interfaces control what you can and can\u2019t do, the world \u2013 or computer \u2013 is your oyster when you\u2019re working with the command line.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Firstly, open a terminal window. On Linux and Unix-based systems such as macOS, the command line is called Bash and you can open it by searching for the program \u201cTerminal\u201d on your computer. There are also applications out there like Hyper which you can install as alternatives to the default terminal on your computer.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you\u2019ve set up a terminal, you\u2019re ready to start. Let\u2019s discuss a few of the most common commands \u2013 instructions \u2013 you\u2019ll need to know when using the command line.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re going to split this tutorial into three parts:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before we talk about making changes to a file system and scripting, we\u2019ve got to talk about the basics. The place where every newbie to Linux starts is finding files on their system.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In your command line, type in the following command:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ls<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nWhat do you see? In my case, I see the following:
<\/p>\n\n\n\nApplications\tDesktop\t Documents\tDownloads\tLibrary\t\tPictures\t\tPublic\t\t Sites<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nThis command allows you to list the contents of a folder. Running this command helped me see that the folder I\u2019m in right now contains a number of other folders, like Pictures and Desktop. You can also list the contents of a specific folder by specifying the name of that folder:
<\/p>\n\n\n\nls Desktop<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nWorking Directories and Filesystems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The folder that you\u2019re currently in when using the command line is called your current working directory. By default, the
ls<\/code> command runs in your current working directory, unless you specify a folder whose contents you want to list.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nFiles in Linux use a tree structure and so each folder can contain many subfolders. At the top of the tree is a folder called the root directory. On a Linux computer, this is found at \/.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you want to know what directory you are currently viewing, you can use the command pwd:
<\/p>\n\n\n\npwd<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nThis command returns: \/Users\/James. pwd allows me to see where I am in the filesystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moving Around the Filesystem<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
On a desktop computer, it\u2019s easy to move around the filesystem. All you need to do is open a folder viewer like \u201cFinder\u201d on Mac and click on a folder. With the command line, it\u2019s also easy to move around the filesystem. Instead of clicking on folders, you can use the
cd<\/code> command to move around the filesystem:
<\/p>\n\n\n\ncd folder-name<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nIn my case, if I run
cd Desktop\/<\/code>, I am moved to the Desktop. If I runpwd<\/code> again, \/Users\/James\/Desktop is returned. This is because cd has changed my current working directory to the Desktop folder.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
cd<\/code> is an easy command to remember because it stands for change directory. When you start using this command, you\u2019ll know that in order to Change Directory, you need to use cd.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Create a Directory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You now know how to move around the filesystem and view files and folders. The next step is to actually create a folder. Creating a folder in the command line is accomplished using the
mkdir<\/code> command. This command creates a new empty folder at the location you specify.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe following command will create a folder called \u201cnew-folder\u201d in your current working directory:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
mkdir new-folder<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nNow, if I run
ls<\/code> again, I can see that a new folder has been added to my current working directory (which we changed in the last example to be \/Users\/James\/Desktop):
<\/p>\n\n\n\nto-do.md\tnew-folder<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nAs you can see, there are two items in my Desktop folder. There\u2019s a file called \u201cto-do.md\u201d, and there is the new folder that we just created called \u201cnew-folder\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part 2: Changing Files and Folders<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Well done on making it this far. Go make yourself a cup of tea or coffee as a reward, or do something else that you enjoy! The Linux command line isn\u2019t the easiest tool to learn for beginners, so you should congratulate yourself on completing part one of this tutorial.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nNow we\u2019re going to discuss how to change the filesystem. So far, we\u2019ve listed files and created folders, but that\u2019s only the start of what we can do with the command line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Create and Edit a File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You are probably used to clicking \u201cFile > New\u201d to create a new file on your computer. That\u2019s the procedure that most programs use to create new files. In the Linux command line, it\u2019s a different story. All you need to do to create a file is run the \u201ctouch\u201d command:
<\/p>\n\n\n\ntouch linux_tutorial.txt<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nWhen executed, this command creates a file called \u201clinux_tutorial.txt\u201d. It is an empty file, but we can open and edit it as we want.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn Linux, there are a number of different ways you can edit files. One of the most common ways in which beginners edit files is through
nano<\/code>, an easy-to-use text file editing tool for the command line. Run this command in your terminal:<\/p>\n\n\n\nnano linux_tutorial.txt<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nThis command will allow you to see the contents of the file we created and edit the file. Once you\u2019ve made your edits, press Command-X (or equivalent), type Y, then press enter. This will save your changes to the file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Copy a File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Right click. Copy. Right click. Paste. That\u2019s how you copy and paste files on a desktop computer. You\u2019ll notice a trend going on, but this is not the case with the command line. To copy a file or folder on the command line, you can use the
cp<\/code> command.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nHere\u2019s an example of this command in action:
<\/p>\n\n\n\ncp linux_tutorial.txt linux_tutorial_part_two.txt<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nThis command allows us to copy the file \u201clinux_tutorial.txt\u201d into a file called \u201clinux_tutorial_part_two.txt\u201d. The first word after \u201ccp\u201d is the file you want to copy and the second is the destination where you want to copy that file or folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Move a File<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can use the
mv<\/code> command to move a file into a folder in Linux. The first argument you specify should be the file that you want to move and the second one should be the folder in which you want to move that file.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe following command allows us to move our \u201clinux_tutorial.txt\u201d file into the folder \u201cnew-folder\u201d:
<\/p>\n\n\n\nmv linux_tutorial.txt new-folder\/<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nThe
\/<\/code> at the end of our folder name is not required, but it helps show that we are moving our file into a folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow to Delete a File or Folder<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You can use the
rm<\/code> command to delete files and folders. Therm<\/code> command itself allows you to delete files or blank folders. If you want to delete a folder which contains files, you need to specify the-r<\/code> flag alongside the command.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn Linux, a flag is used to modify the behavior of a command. For instance, the \u201c-r\u201d flag removes all files and folders within a folder, when used with the \u201crm\u201d command. Another example of a flag is \u201cls -a\u201d, which lists all the contents of a folder, including hidden files and folders.<\/em>
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe following command deletes the contents of the \u201cnew-folder\u201d folder on our desktop:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
rm -r new-folder\/<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s worth noting that when a file is deleted in Linux, it is gone. There is no trash can like there is on your desktop. Before you delete a file, double check to make sure that the file you have selected is in fact the one that you want to delete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part 3: Input and Output<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ve reached part three, the final portion of this tutorial. In this section, we\u2019re going to talk about viewing files, searching files and redirection. You now know how to move around the filesystem and make changes to files, but there\u2019s more we can do with these commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Viewing Files<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When you see Linux experts using the command
cat<\/code>, you should know that they\u2019re not talking about the animal. They are talking about the command that allows you to view a file. Thecat<\/code> command displays the contents of a file to the terminal.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis command allows us to see the contents of the \u201clinux_tutorial.txt\u201d file:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
cat linux_tutorial.txt<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nIn my case, this returns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a Linux tutorial.\nIt's still a work in progress.<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nSearching Files<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019re working with files in Linux, it\u2019s common to want to search through that file. That\u2019s where the
grep<\/code> command comes in handy. While thegrep<\/code> command can get quite complicated if you use different flags, it\u2019s quite easy to use if you keep it simple.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nSuppose we want to search for the word \u201cLinux\u201d in our \u201clinux_tutorial.txt\u2019 article. We could do so using this command:
<\/p>\n\n\n\ngrep \"Linux\" linux_tutorial.txt<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nThis command returns:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is a Linux tutorial.<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nYou can see that the
grep<\/code> command has searched through our file and returned the line of text which includes our search. If the word \u201cLinux\u201d had appeared multiple times in our file, then each line containing the word would have been returned. <\/p>\n\n\n\nRedirection<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
In Linux, redirection is a technique where you can use the output of a file or command as an input for another.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nSuppose you want to make a list of all the files and folders in your \u201cDesktop\u201d folder and save it to a folder called \u201cfolders.txt\u201d. You could accomplish this task using the following command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ls > folders.txt<\/pre><\/div>\n\n\n\nOpen the \u201cfolders.txt\u201d file using nano (or your preferred text editor) and you\u2019ll see that the output of the
ls<\/code> command was added to this file.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn this example, the\u201d >\u201d symbol is used to redirect outputs from the command on the left hand side of the symbol to the command on the right hand side. It\u2019s worth noting that this symbol replaces the contents of a file. If you want to add the result of a command to the end of a file, you should use the \u201c>>\u201d symbol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Congratulations! You\u2019ve made it. Give yourself a pat on the back because the Linux command line is a difficult tool for beginners to learn. It looks very different from a desktop interface and movies don\u2019t exactly do it justice.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn movies, the command line looks intimidating and is associated with hacking; in the real world, it\u2019s a valuable tool in the arsenal of any Linux operating system user or programmer.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn this guide, we discussed three main parts of working with Linux systems: navigating the file system, making changes to files, and input and output.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThere\u2019s still a lot more for you to learn. There\u2019s a variety of flags you can use to customize the commands we\u2019ve discussed in this tutorial even further. We\u2019ve not even talked about piping or environmental variables. To find out more about a command, you can run \u201cman [command]\u201d in your terminal. This will show you the manual page for that command.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe commands we\u2019ve talked about here are the foundation of the Linux command line. If you don\u2019t know how to use them, you\u2019ll never be able to use more complex commands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Supporting Resources<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Want to learn more about the command line? Check out these resources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n
- Career Karma How to Learn Linux Guide<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Best Linux Bootcamps Rankings<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Git Tower Command Line Cheat Sheet<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Kmdr Code Assistance<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Those of you old enough to remember when the earliest computers were introduced may recall MS-DOS and other command-line systems. The first computers did not have pretty desktops like we have come to expect today and were only told what to do using a series of written commands. Desktops have largely replaced command-line interfaces for…","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":18430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18070],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-18429","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-software-engineering-skills"},"acf":{"post_sub_title":"","sprint_id":"","query_class":"Software Engineering","school_sft":"","parent_sft":"","school_privacy_policy":"","has_review":"","is_sponser_post":"","is_guest_post":""},"yoast_head":"\n
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