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Everything about Command-line interface

Means of entering commands to software

A command-line interface (CLI), also known as a command-line shell, is a means of interacting with software via commands, each formatted as a line of text. The concept of interacting with a computer via text evolved over two decades, transitioning from hardware to sophisticated software. Before the CLI, computers were programmed using physical switches or punched cards. The shift toward a command-style interaction began with the use of teleprinters or teletypes. Early systems such as the Whirlwind I (1951) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) began using typewriter-like inputs to give users direct control, departing from batch processing, in which a user submitted a stack of cards to an operator and received the results hours later. Devices such as the Teletype Model 33, introduced in 1963, allowed operators to type a command and receive a printed response from the computer. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: Command-line interfaceA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Eras of bioinformatics technologies from command-line interfaces to artificial intelligence (AI) chatbotsInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: Data Science at the Command LineThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: JASS: command line and web interface for the joint analysis of GWAS resultsCited 28 times
  5. Go sideways: Shell (computing)A closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: List of command-line interpretersA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Noun Alternative form of command line interface.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. Comparison to graphical user interfaces
  2. Types
  3. History
  4. Usage
  5. Anatomy of a shell CLI
  6. Command-line interpreter
  7. Scripting
  8. Other command-line interfaces

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics