Small, Sharp Software Tools

Chapter 1Getting Your Feet Wet

When you hear about the command-line interface, or CLI, from other developers, you often hear about how much faster it is than a graphical environment. But if you’re like most developers, you’re probably pretty good with your computer. You know some keyboard shortcuts that help you move even faster. The best way to see the real value of the CLI is to just dive right in to some hands-on activities, while learning a few time-saving techniques along the way. In this chapter, you’ll use the command line to do some things you probably know how to do already through the graphical interface. You’ll work with files and directories, navigate around a bit, install some software, and get more information about the commands ...