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What is the Terminal?

3:40 with Jay McGavren

The Terminal is a way to control your computer using just text. It lets you run commands that are far more powerful than anything a GUI can do for you.

The Terminal is a way to control your computer using just text.

  • The Graphical User Interfaces or GUIs you see on desktop and mobile apps and websites have their place. You can easily see what options are available to you, and click on the one you want.
  • The terminal lets you run commands that are far more powerful than anything a GUI can do for you.
  • Apps that run in the terminal use what's called a command-line interface, or CLI.
  • So how do you access the terminal?
    • Most operating systems offer some sort of terminal-like program by default.
    • On Mac and Linux machines, it's usually simply called Terminal.
    • On Windows, it's called Command Prompt, although there are alternatives like PowerShell.
    • But you don't have to worry about those details right now, because you have access to Treehouse Workspaces.
    • Each workspace includes a console area that works just like a terminal. You can run commands and see their output. We'll give you directions on how to do this shortly.

In this course, we're going to be focusing on the terminal as used in the Linux and Mac operating systems. We'll have info near the end of the course for those who need to apply some of these concepts in Windows. You might wonder why we're not showing the Windows way first... Let me explain.

  • The vast majority of servers where developers deploy their software are running operating systems that are compatible with Unix, a powerful OS developed in the 1960s.
  • These compatible OSs include Linux and Mac OS.
  • All of these operating systems feature file systems and programs that work in much the same way. If you learn to use terminal programs on Linux, you'll find they all work in much the same way on Mac OS and vice-versa.
  • This isn't true with Windows. You can still do a lot from the Command Prompt on Windows, but most commands are run in a different way, and will only work on Windows.
  • We're focusing on Unix-like operating systems because they're more popular as servers, and because the commands you learn will be usable on more systems.

By the way, this course is an update to our retired Console Foundations course, by Jim Hoskins. A big thanks goes to Jim for his earlier work!

Commands Shown in this Video

We just included these commands to show you what you'll be able to do in the terminal someday. If you're just learning to use the terminal, then you're not ready for these yet. Come back after completing this course!

  • curl: Retrieve web pages and other data using a URL.
  • Docker: Wraps applications written for any operating system so that they can run on any other operating system.
  • Git: Keeps old versions of your files so you can switch back to them if needed.
  • wc: Count the number of words and letters in a file or other text.
  • ssh: Securely connect to shells on other computers so you can control them.
  • 0:00

    [MUSIC]

  • 0:09

    Hi, I'm Jay McGavren, a wow developer and instructor at Treehouse.

  • 0:12

    And I'm here to introduce you to the terminal.

  • 0:15

    The terminal is a way to control your computer using just text.

  • 0:19

    The graphical user interfaces, or GUIs, you see on desktop, and mobile apps, and

  • 0:23

    websites have their place.

  • 0:25

    You can easily see what options are available to you and

  • 0:27

    click on the one you want.

  • 0:29

    But have you ever tried to describe to someone how to do something using a GUI,

  • 0:32

    especially if it's buried under three levels of menus?

  • 0:35

    It takes a long time.

  • 0:37

    Have you ever tried to do a task repeatedly using a GUI,

  • 0:40

    especially if there's no shortcut key for it?

  • 0:42

    It's tedious.

  • 0:47

    The terminal lets you run commands that are far more powerful than anything a GUI

  • 0:51

    can do for you.

  • 0:53

    Apps that run in the terminal use what's called a command-line interface, or a CLI.

  • 0:58

    It takes longer to learn how to use a command-line interface than a GUI.

  • 1:02

    But in the end, a command-line interface is faster for more complicated or

  • 1:05

    more repetitive tasks.

  • 1:08

    This is why so many developers prefer to use the terminal.

  • 1:12

    Many developer tools only offer a command-line interface,

  • 1:15

    not a graphical user interface.

  • 1:17

    The terminal is the only way you'll be able to perform essential tasks,

  • 1:20

    like managing Docker containers, for example.

  • 1:23

    Even when an app has both a CLI and a GUI available, like with the Git

  • 1:27

    version control system, most developers prefer to use the CLI version.

  • 1:31

    And most servers where developers deploy apps only offer command-line access.

  • 1:37

    So how do you access the terminal?

  • 1:39

    Most operating systems offer some kind of terminal-like program by default.

  • 1:44

    On Mac and Linux machines, it's usually simply called Terminal.

  • 1:48

    On Windows, it's called Command Prompt, although there are alternatives,

  • 1:51

    like PowerShell.

  • 1:53

    But you don't have to worry about those details right now,

  • 1:56

    because you have access to Treehouse Workspaces.

  • 1:59

    Each workspace includes a console area that works just like a terminal.

  • 2:03

    You can run commands and see their output.

  • 2:06

    We'll give you directions on how to do this shortly.

  • 2:09

    In this course, we're going to be focusing on the terminal as used in Linux and

  • 2:13

    Mac operating systems.

  • 2:15

    We'll have info near the end of the course for

  • 2:17

    those who need to apply some of these concepts and Windows.

  • 2:20

    You might wonder why we're not showing the Windows way first, let me explain.

  • 2:24

    The vast majority of servers where developers deploy their software

  • 2:28

    are running operating systems that are compatible with Unix,

  • 2:32

    a powerful OS developed in the 1960s.

  • 2:34

    These compatible OSs include Linux and Mac OS.

  • 2:39

    All of these operating system feature file systems and

  • 2:41

    programs that work in much the same way.

  • 2:44

    If you learn to use terminal programs on Linux,

  • 2:46

    you'll find they all work in much the same way on Mac OS, and vice versa.

  • 2:51

    This isn't true with Windows.

  • 2:53

    You can still do a lot from the Command Prompt on Windows, but

  • 2:56

    most commands are run in a different way and will only work on Windows.

  • 3:00

    We're focusing on Unix-like operating systems because they're more popular in

  • 3:04

    servers, and because the commands you learn will be usable on more systems.

  • 3:09

    But like I said, we'll have info near the end of the course for

  • 3:12

    those who need to apply what they learn on Windows.

  • 3:15

    There is quite a bit of overlap,

  • 3:17

    and you can even install tools that will give you Unix-like commands on Windows.

  • 3:22

    We'll also show you how to access the terminal on Mac and Linux systems.

  • 3:26

    By the way,

  • 3:27

    this course is an update to our retired Console Foundations course by Jim Hoskins.

  • 3:32

    A big thanks goes to Jim for his earlier work.

  • 3:35

    Okay, are you ready?

  • 3:36

    In the next video, we're going to try our first terminal commands.

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