The Terminal is a quick and powerful way to accomplish tasks on your computer, and it is essential for working with development environments like python and node. Before working with these languages, having a basic knowledge of Unix shell is reccommended. This post is a list of common commands for dealing with the command-line.

navigating directories 🗂️

File management through the command-line can be a little bit less intuitive than using a GUI (graphical user interface) browser like the Finder, but it does allow you to utilize your files and folders in scripts. You can just refer to them by their paths. Below are the most fundamental commands you'll be using for moving through your folders.

print your current working directory

pwd

list files

ls

change directory

cd relative/path
# or
cd ~/absolute/path

move up one directory

cd ..

move up two directories and so on...

cd ../..

go back to your previous directory

cd -

change directory, but add the path to a directory stack (a history of directories)

pushd folder/path

go back one directory in the stack while also removing the directory you're leaving from the stack

popd

go back one directory in the stack (keeping the stack intact)

pushd +1

go to the bottom of the directory stack

pushd -0

view your directory stack

dirs -v

creating, reading, updating, and deleting ✍️

A basic list of common operations that most users carry out through the Finder, like move, copy, delete, etc. Keep in mind, from the perspective of somebody who uses a GUI, a lot of these commands serve dual purposes. For example, you will be using the same command, mv, to either rename a file or move it.

create a folder

mkdir foldername

create a folder and the necessary parent folders

mkdir -p parentname/foldername

print to the console

echo "hello, world!"

create a file

touch "filename.txt"

direct output towards a file (overwrite)

echo "hello, world!" > filename.txt

direct output towards a file (append)

echo "hello, world!" >> filename.txt

move a file or folder

mv "original/path/to/folder" "new/path/to/folder"

rename a file or folder

mv "orignalName.txt" "newName.txt"

copy a file

cp "original.txt" "copy.txt"

copy a folder

cp -r "original" "copy or destination"

(if the folder "copy or destination" already exists, the command will place your copy inside of "copy or destination")

hide a file or folder

chflags hidden path/to/file

reveal a hidden file or folder

chflags nohidden path/to/file

compare files and/or folders

diff file_a.txt file_b.txt

useful tips 📖

command history

press ↑/↓ on your terminal to go through a history of your commands you've used during this session

kill process in the current session

stop a process by pressing ⌃ Control+ C

open a file, folder or application

open path/to/item

development & scripting 💻

I find myself using these commands often when running processes or scripting. Retrieving the hostname of your machine can be useful for setting up configuration files for scripts that run on different machines. The IP address of your development machine is often needed when testing locally hosted projects on other devices.

make a script executable

chmod 755 YourScriptName.sh

kill a PID using

kill -9 PID <pid>

Assign

sudo chown -R $(whoami) /usr/local/*

get the PID of a process running on a port

lsof -i tcp:<portnumber>

get the name of your machine

hostname -s

get your machines local IP address using:

# wifi
ipconfig getifaddr en1
# ethernet 
ipconfig getifaddr en0

if you're on an older OS, and the above two don't work, try using

ifconfig | grep "inet " | grep -Fv 127.0.0.1 | awk '{print $2}' 

Below is a useful selection of commands for dealing with git, the most popular version control system. Using git you can log the changes to your work incrementally, in a highly detailed and selective manner, while also using github to store backups of your repositories.

clone a repository

git clone https://github.com/<username>/<repo>

initialize a repository in a directory

git init

check the status of your repo

git status

add a file to your staging area

git add path/to/file

add new & modified files to your staging area

git add .

remove all files from the staging area

git reset

revert your project to your previous commit

git restore .

compare your changes to your previous commit

git diff

configure access to a remote repository

git remote set-url origin https://<your-personal-token>@github.com/<username>/<repo>.git

The above command will initialize your credentials for a repo already on your computer. If you need to clone the repository first, you will have to apply your access token to the clone command in a similar way:

git clone https://<your-personal-token>@github.com/<username>/<repo>.git

macOS settings 🖥️

hide all desktop icons

defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop false # use 'true' instead of 'false' to reveal your hidden desktop icons
killall Finder # reset the Finder to take effect

speed up Time Machine backups

sudo sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=0

set Time Machine back to it's normal background throttled speed

sudo sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=1

keep your mac from falling asleep after disconnecting a screen share session

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.RemoteManagement RestoreMachineState -bool NO

helpful links 🔗

dev.to - rpalo - bash brackets quick reference youtube.com - Programming with Moshi - Git Tutorial for Beginners: Learn Git in 1 Hour