The command line is a text-based way of interacting with your computer. You may hear it called different names, such as the terminal, the shell, or bash. In practice, you can use these terms interchangeably. (If you're curious, though, you can read more about them in the glossary.)
Initially, the command line can seem like a weird and old-fashioned way of interacting with the computer. However, by using the command line, you're stepping away from an environment where things are done for you and moving into an environment where you have more control. Instead of ordering your food in a restaurant, you're stepping into the kitchen. It's more work, but there are also more possibilities.
The command line allows you to...
- Easily automate tasks such as creating, copying, and converting files.
- Set up your programming environment.
- Run programs you create.
- Access the (many) programs and utilities that do not have graphical equivalents.
- Control other computers remotely.
In addition to being a useful tool in itself, the command line gives you access to a second set of programs and utilities and is a compliment to learning programming.
In the next section, we'll get started using the command line.