Ever wonder if there are ways to be more efficient in our terminal and shell? Feeling a little clunky? Here are a few good-to-knows for those of us...
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
Thanks for the post, David. I found some useful tid-bits here; like using "cd -" in bash to bounce back & forth between directories; who knew? Also, the readline shortcuts - I've used them on the command line for a while, but didn't know that they worked elsewhere - hate to think how many times I could have used "control-k" for URLs.
Yah! It's great! I also like to remove segments of the path in the URL up the previous forward-slash using option/alt-backspace. I'm a little more inclined because I'm big on keyboard shortcuts so I always search for ways to do things in an application without the mouse
I can see you still use Bash.....
poor kid... I feel for you 😢 😂
!!to get the last command really quick. or!catto run the last command that started withcatHometo go to the beginning of the line way faster than pressing "command-f" not to mention that its Mac specific 🤮.scpin the past so I just start writingscphit RIGHT and it literally types 102 characters for me instantly. (note: this is a plugin called "zsh-autosuggestions") (btw, if you are on a Mac🤮😂 why are you on bash? didn't they switch? you didn't update your Mac? 😮😱)Cameron.rerun-last-commandand then You can just press CTRL + 7 again and again, to do!!. Thank me later 😂You do realize that zsh is not installed on remote machines. Right? Are you familiar with the differences between zsh and bash and the subtle idiosyncrasies? Probably not, but they matter. I work on remote machines that don't have zsh, silly.
I'm a little insulted by your assumptions. I actually do use zsh on a different machine (it's the default on new Macs), but I've also used it in the past along with oh-my-zsh, Prezto (for a long time ~5 years), and fish (short time).
Sure. How is that different from up or ctrl-p and the requirement on two keys? Can, but do you? The
!commands, by default, don't provide a visual indication of that last command, so you're running it blindly, so it's utility is diminishedI can't help but laugh. Do you know why? You completely misread. None of these commands are Mac-specific. And where is the "command" key mentioned? I just mention option/alt (alt for non-Mac). But anyway, carry on. Not everyone uses a 100% or 150% keyboard like yourself and packs a mouse when traveling. But, go ahead, bring your desk, too. While you're at it, maybe a floppy disk with all your dependencies in case there isn't wifi. I have a 60% keyboard that is portable for travel. It doesn't have home, end, or arrow keys. Wait. Did I mention readline shortcuts? Oh, I did! Did you read? No. They are not Mac-specific. I still have a PC with both Windows and a Linux distro on it. While you're over there moving your hand off the keyboard searching for your home, end, and arrow keys, and greeting your home row again, I'm pressing ctrl-a (beginning of line) and ctrl-e (end of line). LOL! Silly silly, you. Again, I would advise you to read before you make remarks like this. Your lack of reading shows -- didn't I say that readline shortcuts are not terminal and bash-specific? Nor are they Mac-specific. Go ahead, I'm waiting... for you to give yourself a face palm...
Again. Read my post in its entirety -- same as point 2 that I'm making... readline shortcuts.
If you use Windows instead of a terminal, you don't even need a keyboard! Why type text when there's a GUI? See the hilarity in how you make assertions? Well, damn. I didn't know this. I've never used zsh 🤷♂️. You must have many friends. I can see the dependencies bleeding into your life -- plugin this; plug in that; plug a floppy disk with zsh into the remote connection... Are you familiar with the Unix philosophy? It's worth a read. I avoid having more plugins than I need. I'm not telling people what to use (despite the title/clickbait). I'm just providing options that are nearly universal across platforms. zsh is not the default shell on every Linux distro. zsh is DEFINITELY more convenient. And the way that you use zsh is slower compared to me.
ctrl-r, type command, and enter as you dance between sets of keys. Bless you, child! (see what I did here? I inverted our relationship). The visual auto-completion is nice. I miss that when I'm not on my machine with zsh.Yeah, you should really read before you comment. LOL. I don't use VSCode. I use Vim. You're bleeding, "I'm way cooler than you" attitude which I'm sure makes you many friends.
Lastly, I'm already certain that I'm slower in my shell than you are and I only type one word per minute, because why be in such a rush when enjoying life on a beach? Speed kills. I'd rather slow down and experience it :)
Seems someone didn't catch my jokes.
(Even with my heavy emoji usage 😅)
I guess I have to work on that. 🤭😂
Oh, I caught them... but they're not jokes. They're what is called, "back-handed" comments. If you had acknowledged or were aware of the alternatives as I've mentioned, then you likely would have mentioned them... but anyway, I'm sure that you learned a thing or two, even if you fail to acknowledge them or should I say, "my jokes"? ;)
Or just use the UP key
When you’ve reached rock bottom, there’s no place to go but up 🙃
Well, that's still an option.😂
Thanks for sharing! Just used
ctrl-p!Great article! Learning the
ctrl-pbrings so much joy to me!One more thing. If you are already a vim user (and the OP is), and if you already spend most of your time in vim writing code, you may just type all (non-daemon) commands inside vim by using
:!prefix, such as:!echo hello world. Later you can typeq:in vim to open a history of all shell commands that you used inside vim, and use all the native vim ways to navigate (h,j,k,l,w,b, etc.), and edit inline, then hitenterto run it.I recently found out about using ! (exclamation) and them previous beginning of command. Eg: "!ssh" will run last command in your history that started with ssh. And I love the tip below about "cd -".
I've certainly forgotten about this one! Thanks!!
Why make it more difficult, to search back and forward?
Ctrl p and ctrl n, is more difficult than up/down.
You're not wrong, ProDigit. On most keyboards, it's a bit of a stretch to reach for the left
ctrlwith one's pinky. You'll have to decide for yourself whether this is more difficult than moving your entire right hand off the home row of your keyboard to the arrow keys unless you've remapped. What if you need to edit the previous command? Your hand is now oscillating between yourjkl;keys and the arrow keys. I'm often modifying the argument to my previous command either because I made a typo or I when I need to edit itMany will perform the following sequence of actions:
Alternatively...
One additional step, but I can almost guarantee that this is faster and more precise than less keys and trying to eyeball and correct for inaccuracy
Lastly, this is actually far easier for a subset of us that are touch typists, but we typically also have some or all of the following configurations:
ctrl(to reduce the pinky reach) as it's a fairly useless key (like really used less frequently than almost any other key on the keyboard)If you've read beyond the first tip, everything that I've mentioned is about efficiency in one's terminal and shell, but use your own discretion.
I don't know. Click 3 times up, and then enter,
Or click multiple times ctrl + p and then enter.
Arrow keys also are faster when you need to modify the command. You can immediately go to the end, middle or beginning with left/right arrows right next to it.
I prefer the arrows, and for anything else ctrl + R.
The only way I would consider something else than the arrows, is if I'm running a pet or c64, without direct arrow keys (there you still have to press shift + arrow).
Just another tool in the box. I'm not opposed to arrow keys at all. my
hjklkeys are are my arrow keys, but requires me to depress the function key to activate and do, at times, rely on it, particularly in applications where these readline key combos don't work.Did you just name drop C64 as in Commodore64? Are we diggin' 'round the attic for antiques?
Or use a more powerful shell like fish 🐟😉
Sorry, I'm a Prezto user (on my other machines) ;)
However, this obviously discounts the availability of zsh on remote machines... where I sometimes do work
Unless you are writing a new OS every month, what's the hurry?
Enjoy the scroll 😄
No hurry...as I ask Alexa to scroll for me while I have my feet up on the table and sip on my coffee and watch the birds sing ;)