Foundations

Command Line

Navigation, files, permissions, pipes, redirects and processes, then scripting them together into a productivity system you actually run. Every lesson runs against a real sandboxed shell in the browser, so you type the commands rather than reading about them.

The course project

Command-Line Productivity System

Scripts that scaffold projects, search and organize files, analyze text, and automate the repetitive parts of your own workflow.

course

14 modules · 28 lessons

Each module ends with a practice test, a graded build, and a step of the course project.

Part I: Navigation

What the Shell Actually Is

A conversation with your computer, one instruction at a time.

Paths and Navigation

Every file has an address. Once you can write addresses, you can go anywhere.

Creating and Destroying

Making things is easy. The lesson is what happens when you remove them.

Copying, Moving, and Renaming

Two commands, and one surprise: renaming and moving are the same operation.

Section project · coming soon

Reorganize a Messy Folder

Move, rename and sort a folder of files using only the terminal.

Part II: Reading and Searching

Reading Files

Four commands, and knowing which one to reach for is most of the skill.

Finding Files

When you know something exists but not where. This is the command that replaces the search box.

Searching Inside Files

find locates files. grep looks inside them. Together they answer almost any question about a codebase.

Section project · coming soon

The Log Detective

Find the three real problems hiding in a large log file with grep, sort and uniq.

Part III: Composition

Redirection

Output is a stream. Redirection decides where it flows.

Pipes and Composition

Small tools, joined end to end. This is the idea the whole system is built on.

Permissions

Who may read this, change it, or run it. Nine characters answer all three.

Section project · coming soon

A Backup Script

A shell script that archives a folder, names it by date and reports what it did.

Part IV: Environment

Environment, PATH, and Processes

Why some commands are found and others are not, and what to do when something will not stop.

Shell Scripts

A script is commands you already know, saved in a file. That is the whole idea.

Installing and Running Programs

Package managers, versions, and why the same command behaves differently on two machines.

Git from the Terminal, and the Whole Workflow

Putting every command in this course into one sequence you will repeat for years.

Section project · coming soon

Your Own Toolbox

Aliases, a PATH entry and a config file that make your terminal yours.

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