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Command line tools every web dev needs to know

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Re: Command line tools every web dev needs to know

#31

Post by to3m »

coroxout wrote: post #22
jimm wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know, but typing that slowly means that there is a barrier between the thought and the deed. It like if you wrote a poem, then started speaking the letters one by one in Morse code --- and you refuse to learn Morse code so you have to look up each letter's code as you go.

My former coworker would use the mouse to copy and paste even 3-letter variable names rather than typing them in again. He'd also scroll his terminal window up and copy and paste old commands (again, all with the mouse) rather than using the up arrow, even after I told him about command line history and tab completion in case he didn't know, and would frequently mis-copy and miss the first letter off or have a stray…

I'm not sure it makes a big difference. You're going to have to waste a HUGE amount of time doing things the inefficient way (whichever it is for the task at hand) before it will be the equal of arriving late for even just one day, or taking an extra 5 minutes at lunch.

Things I suspect you'd be better off getting good at than keyboard shortcuts:

* Regular expression search and replace

* The command line (default Windows command prompt is fine), and the POSIX-style command line tools (default Windows command line tools are NOT fine)

* Some kind of popular scripting-type language (perl/python/ruby/whatever/etc.), if you don't know one already

I like my keyboard shortcuts, but the above have saved me much, much more time over the years.

Re: Command line tools every web dev needs to know

#33

Post by bonobo »

rhizome31 wrote: post #29
Derbasti wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, typing. I am frequently amazed to see professional software developers with years of experience in the field, who only type using their two index fingers. You probably do not need to type 120 WPM to be an amazing programmer, but typing without looking at the keyboard is absolutely essential.

I used to be one of those. Until one day a colleague noticed and made a remark. Then I looked at other colleagues and realized my problem. I used http://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/ to fix it.

I'm still trying, but it's demanding more discipline from me than I thought I'd need at first. It's hard to get rid of bad habits when they've already become muscle memory.

Re: Command line tools every web dev needs to know

#34

Post by lovskogen »

Yesterday I used the ipfw command to run our product in "slow motion" to spot loading order and if animations started at the right places. Discovered alot of stuff that needs fixing. The ipfw command is for trottling bandwidth, and great for product designers like myself :) I'm sure it has other uses as well.

Re: Command line tools every web dev needs to know

#35

Post by forgotAgain »

prostoalex wrote: post #12
Derbasti wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, typing. I am frequently amazed to see professional software developers with years of experience in the field, who only type using their two index fingers. You probably do not need to type 120 WPM to be an amazing programmer, but typing without looking at the keyboard is absolutely essential.

Why? What projects have slipped due to programmer's inability to type in all the necessary code on time?

I think its more a question of needing to look at the keyboard and identify the keys you want to press. It breaks the developer's flow.

Re: Command line tools every web dev needs to know

#38

Post by snowwrestler »

Derbasti wrote: post #7
benjaminwootton wrote: post #2

We are interviewing for experienced developers at the moment and the lack of general unix knowledge is really surprising. A little bit of shell scripting goes a long way in automating away dev work.

Also, typing. I am frequently amazed to see professional software developers with years of experience in the field, who only type using their two index fingers. You probably do not need to type 120 WPM to be an amazing programmer, but typing without looking at the keyboard is absolutely essential.

This probably matters a lot less than younger people think. If you grew up touch-typing you got used to being able to put data in as fast (or almost as fast) as you could think it. If the input rate is slowed down, you feel like you're going to lose thoughts before they get captured.

Folks who did not grow up touch typing, though, simply learned to construct a longer-lasting mental model, which they can then write out however slowly. Think of it as a bigger buffer. In rare cases it can become enormous, and people write entire novels in their head before ever putting ink on paper (famous example: "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", which was written at a rate of about one word every 2 minutes).

Or, they learned to create and capture design decisions in higher-density media (like diagrams or pseudocode), which, again, can then be typed in more slowly.

It's probably much better to judge developers by the quality of their output than how fast they type--especially since most software spends way longer in production and maintenance than it does being developed.

Re: Command line tools every web dev needs to know

#39

Post by sea6ear »

bonobo wrote: post #33
rhizome31 wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to be one of those. Until one day a colleague noticed and made a remark. Then I looked at other colleagues and realized my problem. I used http://www.gnu.org/software/gtypist/ to fix it.

I'm still trying, but it's demanding more discipline from me than I thought I'd need at first. It's hard to get rid of bad habits when they've already become muscle memory.

I actually learned to type mostly by playing text based games (muds [telnet elephant.org]). Having to type fast enough to not get killed by the monsters helped me learn. Of course alot of players just set up scripts or triggers in mud clients. I mostly used straight telnet to play.

Re: Command line tools every web dev needs to know

#40

Post by gavinlynch »

morsch wrote: post #24
zalew wrote: post #15

quite relevant: http://www.commandlinefu.com a great collection of cli uses and abuses one of my favorites is querying dns to get wiki excerpts dig +short txt bmw.wp.dg.cx "(BMW), is an independent German automobile manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also produces motorcycles, is the owner of the MINI brand and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW" http://www.comman…

I've got something like this in my .bashrc so I can access commandlinefu from within the shell: cmdfu(){ wget -qO - "http://www.commandlinefu.com/commands/matching/$@/$(echo -n "$@" | openssl base64)/plaintext"; } It's like man but for one-liners.

Wow this is so cool, I'm adding this to my .bashrc as well! Thanks for the tip :)
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