Introduction

For many of you, this is the first time [or nearly so] that you are actually typing in real commands to the computer. Usually, you boot your machine, wait for the windowing interface to appear, then use the mouse [and some typed commands or keypresses] to accomplish your tasks in the windows which get started by clicking on things. For this class, however, much of that familiarity will RAPIDLY disappear.

Here's something to try: Go to your windowing interface and create six separate directories for your six favorite recording artists or movies or some other thing that you like, using your mouse and so on the way you normally do. How long did that take you? Now, open a terminal window and type the following command into it, then press 'enter':

   mkdir 'Charli XCX' Halsey 'The Weeknd' Khalid 'Lady Gaga' Beyoncé
            

Why the Command Line is Cool

People that often use the command line are sometimes called power users. Why is the command line powerful?

• Your hands stay on the keyboard: no physical context switches to a mouse or trackpad [so it's often faster]
• Text is really dense: lots of information in [very] few characters
• You’re not limited to what's on the menus
• It might be the only way to control a remote computer

You can do almost anything from the command line! You don't need to launch many separate window-based applications. With the command line, you can:

• Create, delete, rearrange, edit, and search files (without using the finder)
• Start, stop, and inspect your running programs (without a task manager)
• Get information such as the current time, how much disk space is left on your system, etc.
• Connect to, control, and copy files between, devices and remote computers (without a fancy graphical tool)

A Basic Command Line Tutorial

To help you with navigating the command window [Windows] or terminal window [Mac/UNIX/Linux], here is a handly table of some basic commands with explanations of what they mean and what they do. While it is most definitely not exhaustive, and not even really comprehensive, it will at least provide you with a reference of basic stuff to get you going.

Mac O/S — Linux — UNIX Commands…

You start the Mac/Linux/UNIX command line from the finder, the launchpad, or the spotlight, or from the dock if you already have a shortcut there. It's also called "terminal" on the Mac.

From the Finder icon in the dock, click Applications in the favorites list, then find the Utilities folder and click to open it; locate Terminal and double-click the icon to open the program.

From the Launchpad, click the Launchpad icon to open the screen of application programs; find the Other icon and click to open it. The Mac displays a set of utility programs. Locate the icon for the Terminal program and click it. As an alternative, click the text area next to the magnifying glass icon in Launchpad and type terminal. Launchpad locates and displays the Terminal icon – a handy time-saver if your MacBook has many programs. Click the icon to open the program.

From Spotlight, click the Spotlight magnifying glass icon. In the text field that opens, type terminal. Spotlight displays a list of matches for the word terminal including the program. Click the entry for Terminal to open it.

Once the terminal window is open, you can use the commands from the following table. Remember that in the following descriptions, the words directory and folder are treated as synonymous.

Item	Command	Meaning/Action Performed [possible "switches"]
1	pwd	Output which directory is the current directory
2	cd <directory or path>	Change directory to that specified
3	ls	List the contents of the current directory
3	ls <directory or path>	List the contents of the named directory
4	mkdir <directory or path>	Make a new directory or subdirectory
5	rmdir <directory or path>	Remove a directory or subdirectory
6	rm <file or directory>	Delete a file
8	cp <source file> <target file>	Copy one file to another
9	more <file>	List out file contents, pause for each screen-full
9	cat <file>	List out file contents, but without pausing
11	man <shell>	List out the commands available for the shell
12	man <command> /?	Get the help page for <command>

Windows Commands…

You start the windows command line by either finding it in the programs list by clicking through the following process:
Start button -> All Programs -> Accessories -> Command Prompt
or by using the Run Box by clicking through the following process:
Start button -> Search box -> type cmd and press the ENTER key
You'll see the command window appear.

Once the command window is open, you can use the commands from the following table. Remember that in the following descriptions, the words directory and folder are synonymous.

Item	Command	Meaning/Action Performed [possible "switches"]
1	cd	Output which directory is the current directory
2	cd <directory or path>	Change directory to that specified
3	dir	List the contents of the current directory
3	dir <directory or path>	List the contents of the named directory
4	mkdir <directory or path>	Make a new directory or subdirectory
5	rmdir <directory or path>	Remove a directory or subdirectory
6	del <file or directory>	Delete a file
7	erase <file or directory>	Delete a file
8	copy <source file> <target file>	Copy one file to another
9	more <file>	List out file contents, pause for each screen-full
9	type <file>	List out file contents, but without pausing
11	help	List out the commands available
12	<command> /?	Get the help page for <command>