The same is true of the command line interface. If I open Google Chrome and I type in /Users/taniarascia, I'll be in the same place. I can access the same exact files through a web browser. On a Mac, if I open Finder, this is my home folder. It's the same computer you already know and love.

You can do everything through the command line. Your entire computer can be accessed through the command line. Instead of dragging and dropping, pointing and clicking, you're typing. Take away the file explorer, the desktop, the icons, and all the other graphics, and you're left with the command line. This is known as a Graphical User Interface (GUI). Windows, macOS - whatever operating system you're using - is simply a visual representation of your computer. I promise this is the most important thing to understand, and it completely blew my mind when I finally understood it. Connecting to another computer or server.Copying and pasting files and directories.Show current directory and contents of directory.Learn some basic terminology related to the command line.Learn what the command line interface is and how it relates to your computer.There are no prerequisites to this article - as long as you have basic computer literacy you'll be able to follow along.Even if you use a Windows PC, this will be useful to learn as your websites are likely hosted on a Linux server. If you have a basic or intermediate knowledge of the command line, you may learn some new tips and tricks.Īpple macOS and most Linux servers use almost all the exact same commands, so this tutorial applies to both. If you've never used the command line, this article will be extremely helpful to you.

Follow along in this tutorial and you'll see how simple it is to use, and how powerful it can be. Learning to use the command line will open up endless possibilities for you - it is undoubtedly essential in web development and programming, but even regular users doing everyday tasks will benefit. When I inevitably encountered a situation where I had to gain some basic command line knowledge, I discovered how useful and easy it is. I thought it was something only really advanced users knew anything about. I didn't know anything about it, and it seemed scary and overwhelming. You might be like me - I used computers for twenty years without ever touching a command prompt.

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