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The Terminal is a way to control your computer using just text. It lets you run commands far more powerful than anything a GUI can do for you.
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[MUSIC]
0:00
Hi, I'm Jay McGavren, a web developer and
instructor at Treehouse.
0:09
And I'm here to introduce
you to the terminal.
0:12
The terminal is a way to control
your computer using just text.
0:15
The graphical user interfaces, or GUIs,
you see on desktop, and mobile apps, and
0:19
websites have their place.
0:23
You can easily see what options
are available to you and
0:25
click on the one you want.
0:27
But have you ever tried to describe to
someone how to do something using a GUI,
0:29
especially if it's buried
under three levels of menus?
0:32
It takes a long time.
0:35
Have you ever tried to do
a task repeatedly using a GUI,
0:37
especially if there's no shortcut key for
it?
0:40
It's tedious.
0:42
The terminal lets you run commands that
are far more powerful than anything a GUI
0:47
can do for you.
0:51
Apps that run in the terminal use what's
called a command-line interface, or a CLI.
0:53
It takes longer to learn how to use
a command-line interface than a GUI.
0:58
But in the end, a command-line interface
is faster for more complicated or
1:02
more repetitive tasks.
1:05
This is why so many developers
prefer to use the terminal.
1:08
Many developer tools only offer
a command-line interface,
1:12
not a graphical user interface.
1:15
The terminal is the only way you'll
be able to perform essential tasks,
1:17
like managing Docker containers,
for example.
1:20
Even when an app has both a CLI and
a GUI available, like with the Git
1:23
version control system, most developers
prefer to use the CLI version.
1:27
And most servers where developers deploy
apps only offer command-line access.
1:31
So how do you access the terminal?
1:37
Most operating systems offer some kind
of terminal-like program by default.
1:39
On Mac and Linux machines,
it's usually simply called Terminal.
1:44
On Windows, it's called Command Prompt,
although there are alternatives,
1:48
like PowerShell.
1:51
But you don't have to worry
about those details right now,
1:53
because you have access
to Treehouse Workspaces.
1:56
Each workspace includes a console
area that works just like a terminal.
1:59
You can run commands and see their output.
2:03
We'll give you directions
on how to do this shortly.
2:06
In this course, we're going to be focusing
on the terminal as used in Linux and
2:09
Mac operating systems.
2:13
We'll have info near
the end of the course for
2:15
those who need to apply some
of these concepts in Windows.
2:17
You might wonder why we're not showing
the Windows way first, let me explain.
2:20
The vast majority of servers where
developers deploy their software
2:24
are running operating systems
that are compatible with Unix,
2:28
a powerful OS developed in the 1960s.
2:32
These compatible OSs include Linux and
Mac OS.
2:34
All of these operating system
feature file systems and
2:39
programs that work in much the same way.
2:41
If you learn to use
terminal programs on Linux,
2:44
you'll find they all work in much
the same way on Mac OS, and vice versa.
2:46
This isn't true with Windows.
2:51
You can still do a lot from
the Command Prompt on Windows, but
2:53
most commands are run in a different
way and will only work on Windows.
2:56
We're focusing on Unix-like operating
systems because they're more popular in
3:00
servers, and because the commands you
learn will be usable on more systems.
3:04
But like I said, we'll have info
near the end of the course for
3:09
those who need to apply
what they learn on Windows.
3:12
There is quite a bit of overlap,
3:15
and you can even install tools that will
give you Unix-like commands on Windows.
3:17
We'll also show you how to access
the terminal on Mac and Linux systems.
3:22
By the way,
3:26
this course is an update to our retired
Console Foundations course by Jim Hoskins.
3:27
A big thanks goes to Jim for
his earlier work.
3:32
Okay, are you ready?
3:35
In the next video, we're going to
try our first terminal commands.
3:36
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