DEV Community: ibra-kdbra

Stop Googling Basic Terminal Commands: Why I Built ShellDex

ibra-kdbra — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 22:35:12 +0000

Have you ever found yourself completely blanking on a terminal command you’ve used a hundred times before? Or maybe you’ve spent 15 minutes digging through StackOverflow just to remember the exact syntax to extract a tar file or find a process running on a specific port?

As developers and system administrators, the command line is our second home. But let's be honest: memorizing every single command, flag, and argument across different platforms is virtually impossible. We often rely on messy bookmarks, scattered cheat sheets, or endless Google searches.

I realized there had to be a better, more centralized way to access this knowledge without losing focus. That's why I created ShellDex.

🤔 What is ShellDex?

ShellDex is a definitive compendium of terminal commands, structured specifically for precision and utility. Think of it as a Pokédex, but for your terminal.

Whether you are navigating file systems, managing system processes, or manipulating data, ShellDex consolidates critical command-line operations into a singular, highly accessible reference guide. It's designed specifically for developers, sysadmins, and anyone who prefers the speed of the CLI over a GUI.

💡 The Core Need: Why ShellDex Exists

Before building ShellDex, I noticed a few consistent pain points in the daily workflow of a developer:

Context Switching is Expensive: Leaving your terminal or IDE to open a browser, search a query, read a forum, and find the right command breaks your flow state.
Man Pages are Dense: While man pages are incredibly detailed and authoritative, they aren't always the quickest way to find a simple, practical example of a command in action.
Information Fragmentation: Cheat sheets are great, but they are often limited to specific niches. I wanted a resource that scales.

ShellDex bridges this gap by providing a clean, distraction-free environment to find exactly what you need, right when you need it.

Key Features

Here is what makes ShellDex a valuable bookmark for your dev toolkit:

⚡ Lightning-Fast Search: Built with a user-friendly interface that includes a quick command palette search (Ctrl + K). You can find the right command in seconds.
🌍 Comprehensive Coverage: A vast array of commands covering different use cases and platforms, saving you from OS-specific headaches.
🚀 Boosts Efficiency: Whether you are a beginner taking your first steps in bash/zsh or a seasoned veteran executing complex shell scripts, ShellDex serves as your go-to resource for mastering terminal magic.
**🌓 Developer-Friendly UI

🎁 Bonus: My Personal Linux Configs & Scripts

Alongside the documentation site, I’ve also linked my personal GitHub repository directly from ShellDex. While ShellDex itself is a hosted reference guide, the GitHub repo is a curated collection of my personal Linux configurations, dotfiles, and useful scripts.

If you are looking to customize your own terminal environment or find some handy automation scripts, it pairs perfectly with the knowledge base on ShellDex!

👉 Bookmark the live site: shelldex.ibra.codes

🐙 Check out my Linux Configs & Scripts: ibra-kdbra/Shell-Configurations

I built this to solve my own problem, but I hope it helps speed up your daily workflow too. Let me know what you think in the comments below! What terminal command do you always forget and have to look up?

#linux #bash #productivity #webdev #tools

Flow Field Screen

ibra-kdbra — Thu, 03 Oct 2024 10:44:22 +0000

Dynamic Flow Fields with Vanilla JS and HTML Canvas

Have you ever been mesmerized by abstract particle animations? These flowing, dynamic visuals can be achieved with surprisingly simple techniques using plain JavaScript and the HTML canvas element. In this article, we will break down the process of creating a flow field that animates thousands of particles, giving them a natural movement.

1. Setting Up the Project

To start, we need three files: an HTML file to set up the canvas, a CSS file for styling, and a JavaScript file for handling the logic.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Flow Fields</title>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
</head>
<body>
    <canvas id="canvas1"></canvas>
    <script src="script.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Explanation:

We define a <canvas> element where all our animations will take place.
The styles.css will be linked to style the canvas.
The main animation logic is contained in script.js.

2. Styling the Canvas with CSS

Let’s add a simple style to give our canvas a black background and make sure all padding and margins are removed.

* {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    box-sizing: border-box;
}

canvas {
    background-color: black;
}

Explanation:

Setting margin and padding to zero ensures that the canvas fills the entire screen.
The black background provides a nice contrast for the white particles.

3. Setup the Canvas: using library benefit

/** @type{HTMLCanvasElement} **/

const canvas = document.getElementById('canvas1');
const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
canvas.width = window.innerWidth;
canvas.height = window.innerHeight;

ctx.fillStyle = 'white';
ctx.strokeStyle = 'white';
ctx.lineWidth = 1;

Explanation:

/** @type{HTMLCanvasElement} **/: This JSDoc comment specifies that the following variable is an HTMLCanvasElement. It helps with type checking and enhances code editor IntelliSense.
canvas: Selects the element from the DOM with the ID canvas1.
ctx: Obtains the 2D rendering context, which provides methods and properties for drawing on the canvas.
Sets the canvas width and height to match the current window's inner width and height, ensuring the canvas fills the viewport.

4. Particle Class: Creating the Magic

The Particle class is where the core of the animation lies. Each particle moves across the canvas, leaving a trail of its past locations, creating the flowing effect.

class Particle {
    constructor(effect) {
        this.effect = effect;
        this.x = Math.floor(Math.random() * this.effect.width);
        this.y = Math.floor(Math.random() * this.effect.height);
        this.speedModifier = Math.floor(Math.random() * 5 + 1);
        this.history = [{ x: this.x, y: this.y }];
        this.maxLength = Math.floor(Math.random() * 200 + 10);
        this.timer = this.maxLength * 2;
        this.colors = ['#4C026B', '#8E0E00', '#9D0208', '#BA1A1A', '#730D9E'];
        this.color = this.colors[Math.floor(Math.random() * this.colors.length)];
    }

    draw(context) {
        context.beginPath();
        context.moveTo(this.history[0].x, this.history[0].y);
        for (let i = 1; i < this.history.length; i++) {
            context.lineTo(this.history[i].x, this.history[i].y);
        }
        context.strokeStyle = this.color;
        context.stroke();
    }

    update() {
        this.timer--;
        if (this.timer >= 1) {
            let x = Math.floor(this.x / this.effect.cellSize);
            let y = Math.floor(this.y / this.effect.cellSize);
            let index = y * this.effect.cols + x;
            let angle = this.effect.flowField[index];

            this.speedX = Math.cos(angle);
            this.speedY = Math.sin(angle);
            this.x += this.speedX * this.speedModifier;
            this.y += this.speedY * this.speedModifier;

            this.history.push({ x: this.x, y: this.y });
            if (this.history.length > this.maxLength) {
                this.history.shift();
            }
        } else if (this.history.length > 1) {
            this.history.shift();
        } else {
            this.reset();
        }
    }

    reset() {
        this.x = Math.floor(Math.random() * this.effect.width);
        this.y = Math.floor(Math.random() * this.effect.height);
        this.history = [{ x: this.x, y: this.y }];
        this.timer = this.maxLength * 2;
    }
}

Explanation:

Constructor: Each particle is initialized with a random position and movement speed. The history array tracks past positions to create trails.
draw(): This function draws the particle’s path based on its history. The particle leaves a colorful trail that adds to the visual effect.
update(): Here, the particle's position is updated by calculating the angle from the flow field. The speed and direction are controlled by trigonometric functions.
reset(): When the particle finishes its trail, it is reset to a new random location.

5. Effect Class: Organizing the Animation

The Effect class handles the creation of particles and the flow field itself, which controls the movement of the particles.

class Effect {
    constructor(canvas) {
        this.canvas = canvas;
        this.width = this.canvas.width;
        this.height = this.canvas.height;
        this.particles = [];
        this.numberOfParticles = 3000;
        this.cellSize = 20;
        this.flowField = [];
        this.curve = 5;
        this.zoom = 0.12;
        this.debug = true;
        this.init();
    }

    init() {
        this.rows = Math.floor(this.height / this.cellSize);
        this.cols = Math.floor(this.width / this.cellSize);
        for (let y = 0; y < this.rows; y++) {
            for (let x = 0; x < this.cols; x++) {
                let angle = (Math.cos(x * this.zoom) + Math.sin(y * this.zoom)) * this.curve;
                this.flowField.push(angle);
            }
        }
        for (let i = 0; i < this.numberOfParticles; i++) {
            this.particles.push(new Particle(this));
        }
    }

    drawGrid(context) {
        context.save();
        context.strokeStyle = 'white';
        context.lineWidth = 0.3;
        for (let c = 0; c < this.cols; c++) {
            context.beginPath();
            context.moveTo(c * this.cellSize, 0);
            context.lineTo(c * this.cellSize, this.height);
            context.stroke();
        }
        for (let r = 0; r < this.rows; r++) {
            context.beginPath();
            context.moveTo(0, r * this.cellSize);
            context.lineTo(this.width, r * this.cellSize);
            context.stroke();
        }
        context.restore();
    }

    render(context) {
        if (this.debug) this.drawGrid(context);
        this.particles.forEach(particle => {
            particle.draw(context);
            particle.update();
        });
    }
}

Explanation:

Constructor: Initializes the canvas dimensions, the number of particles, and the flow field.
init(): Calculates the angles for the flow field by combining trigonometric functions for each grid cell. This field influences how particles move.
drawGrid(): Draws the grid that divides the canvas into cells, used when debugging.
render(): Calls the draw and update methods for each particle to animate the particles across the canvas.

6. Bringing it to Life with the Animation Loop

To make everything work, we need an animation loop that continuously clears the canvas and re-renders the particles:

const effect = new Effect(canvas);

function animate() {
    ctx.clearRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
    effect.render(ctx);
    requestAnimationFrame(animate);
}
animate();

Explanation:

clearRect(): Clears the canvas on each frame to avoid drawing over previous frames.
requestAnimationFrame: Keeps the animation smooth by recursively calling the animate() function.

Conclusion

By breaking down the Particle and Effect classes, we have created a fluid and dynamic flow field animation using only vanilla JavaScript. The simplicity of the HTML canvas, combined with JavaScript's trigonometric functions, allows us to build these mesmerizing visual effects.

Feel free to play around with the particle count, colors, or the flow field formula to create your own unique effects!