Getting comfortable with the command line

Your computer's command line is one of the most powerful tools in your development toolset. If you've never used a command line or if you're still wondering what it even is, don't worry. We are going to take a look at some common commands and patterns that you will use to complete the rest of the book and set you up for future command line usage.

First, we need to discuss the differences between operating systems and their command-line interfaces that we will use. We are going to specifically cover two topics: Terminal on Mac/Linux and PowerShell on Windows.

Mac OS X Terminal: If you're using a Mac (or Linux), Terminal comes preinstalled as a system application. Simply search for it and run the application, and you're all set.

Windows PowerShell: Our Windows setup is a bit different in that we will use an additional application as our command-line interface. Windows PowerShell is a powerful application that will make your command-line experience much...