20 Essential Terminal Commands for Every Programmer

As a programmer, the terminal is an indispensable tool for managing files, executing commands, and automating tasks. Whether you're working on a Linux, macOS, or Windows machine, the terminal provides a consistent interface for interacting with the underlying operating system.

We'll cover 20 essential terminal commands that every programmer should know. These commands are the building blocks for effectively using the terminal and are a good starting point for becoming proficient in using this powerful tool.

It's worth noting that these are just the basics, and there are many other terminal commands available that can be useful for specific tasks. As you work with the terminal, you'll naturally come across new commands that you can add to your arsenal.

1. ls

   This command lists the files and directories in the current directory. The ls command can be run without any options to simply display the names of the files and directories, or it can be run with options to display additional information such as file sizes, permissions, and timestamps.

2. cd

   The cd (change directory) command allows you to navigate the file system by changing the current working directory. For example, to change to the directory named Documents, you would run cd Documents.

3. mkdir

   The qmkdir (make directory) command is used to create a new directory. For example, to create a new directory named new_directory, you would run mkdir new_directory.

4. rm

   The rm (remove) command is used to delete files and directories. For example, to delete a file named file.txt, you would run rm file.txt. Be careful when using this command, as there is no way to recover deleted files.

5. pwd

   The pwd (print working directory) command displays the full path of the current working directory. This can be useful when you want to know the exact location of the directory you're currently in.

6. cp

   The cp (copy) command is used to copy files and directories. For example, to copy a file named file.txt to a new file named file_copy.txt, you would run cp file.txt file_copy.txt.

7. mv

   The mv (move) command is used to move or rename files and directories. For example, to rename a file named file.txt to new_file.txt, you would run mv file.txt new_file.txt.

8. cat

   The cat (concatenate) command is used to display the contents of a file on the terminal. For example, to display the contents of a file named file.txt, you would run cat file.txt.

9. grep

   The grep command is used to search for a pattern in a file. For example, to search for the word "example" in a file named file.txt, you would run grep "example" file.txt.

10. chmod

    The chmod (change mode) command is used to change the permissions on a file or directory. For example, to give read and write permissions to the owner of a file named file.txt, you would run chmod u+rw file.txt.

11. echo

    The echo command is used to display a message on the terminal. For example, to display the message "Hello, World!", you would run echo "Hello, World!".

12. find

    The find command is used to search for files and directories. For example, to search for all files named file.txt in the current directory and its subdirectories, you would run find . -name "file.txt".

13. ps

    The ps (process status) command is used to display information about the running processes. For example, to display a list of all the running processes, you would run ps.

14. kill

    The kill command is used to terminate a process. For example, to terminate a process with the ID 12345, you would run kill 12345.

15. top

    The top command is used to display real-time information about system resource usage, such as CPU usage, memory usage, and the status of running processes. This can be useful when you need to monitor system performance or troubleshoot performance issues.

16. df 

    The df (disk free) command is used to display information about the disk space usage of the file system. For example, to display information about all the mounted file systems, you would run df.

17. du

    The du (disk usage) command is used to display information about the disk space usage of a directory. For example, to display the disk space usage of the current directory, you would run du.

18. ping

    The ping command is used to test the connectivity to a network host. For example, to test the connectivity to the host example.com, you would run ping example.com.

19. curl

    The curl command is used to transfer data from or to a server using various protocols, such as HTTP, FTP, and SMTP. For example, to retrieve the contents of a web page at https://www.example.com, you would run curl https://www.example.com.

20. tar

    The tar (tape archive) command is used to create or extract compressed archive files. For example, to create a compressed archive of the current directory, you would run tar -czvf archive.tar.gz ..

These 20 terminal commands are a good starting point for every programmer to become proficient in using the terminal. However, it's worth noting that there are many other terminal commands available, and it can be helpful to learn more advanced commands as you need them. The terminal is a powerful tool, and mastering a set of essential commands is a critical step in becoming a more productive and efficient developer.