Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#1

Post by CSDude » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 2:35 PM UTC

Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI
cloudplatform.googleblog.com

Re: Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#2

Post by fouc » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 2:55 PM UTC

LOL @ the bright green on black terminal pictures. How shall I say it, it feels very "l33t". Too bad they didn't use more normal terminal colours, it would improve readability IMO.

Re: Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#3

Post by tyingq » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 2:58 PM UTC

fouc wrote: post #2

LOL @ the bright green on black terminal pictures. How shall I say it, it feels very "l33t". Too bad they didn't use more normal terminal colours, it would improve readability IMO.

It's pretty normal and expected for those of us that spent significant time on an actual VT220 or similar. Maybe the choice was just driven by someone similar.

Re: Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#4

Post by zellyn » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 3:02 PM UTC

Is this an open-source library one could use to make one's own interactive tools? Just curious. Anyone have pointers?

Edit: I am slightly familiar with this family of tools. I was curious if there was a pointer to exactly the one used here.

Re: Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#5

Post by ben_jones » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 3:06 PM UTC

fouc wrote: post #2

LOL @ the bright green on black terminal pictures. How shall I say it, it feels very "l33t". Too bad they didn't use more normal terminal colours, it would improve readability IMO.

What? The green on black contrast is really easy to read and blends well with other colors for syntax highlighting. It's a super common scheme among developers...

Re: Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#6

Post by zitterbewegung » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 3:07 PM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #3

fouc wrote: post #2

LOL @ the bright green on black terminal pictures. How shall I say it, it feels very "l33t". Too bad they didn't use more normal terminal colours, it would improve readability IMO.

It's pretty normal and expected for those of us that spent significant time on an actual VT220 or similar. Maybe the choice was just driven by someone similar.

It also indicates that "this is a terminal" to someone generally browsing the page.

Re: Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#7

Post by mattlondon » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 3:08 PM UTC

fouc wrote: post #2

LOL @ the bright green on black terminal pictures. How shall I say it, it feels very "l33t". Too bad they didn't use more normal terminal colours, it would improve readability IMO.

It is using my terminal's standard colour scheme here (grey on black, with "bold" text being white.

I guess it just uses whatever theme your terminal is configured for.

Re: Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#8

Post by NathanKP » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 3:09 PM UTC

fouc wrote: post #2

LOL @ the bright green on black terminal pictures. How shall I say it, it feels very "l33t". Too bad they didn't use more normal terminal colours, it would improve readability IMO.

I don't think its a "l33t" thing its just cultural. A fair number of engineers grew up with old computers that looked like this: https://i.imgur.com/WERwVsS.jpg

Personally I learned to code on an old cathode ray tube monitor with green text, hooked up to a Tandy 1000. The CRT made a lot of heat and emitted a faint electronic tonal noise when it was running.

I think the use of green color in terminals today is kind of a throwback thing to those ancient devices. Even though I wouldn't really want to use an old CRT today I still remember the CRT I grew up using fondly as a much more "live" feeling device compared to modern electronics that are much colder, silent, and sterile bright. When I see a green text terminal it instantly feels familiar and comfortable, in the same way.

Re: Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#9

Post by jjeaff » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 3:09 PM UTC

tyingq wrote: post #3

fouc wrote: post #2

LOL @ the bright green on black terminal pictures. How shall I say it, it feels very "l33t". Too bad they didn't use more normal terminal colours, it would improve readability IMO.

It's pretty normal and expected for those of us that spent significant time on an actual VT220 or similar. Maybe the choice was just driven by someone similar.

Or maybe they are fans of The Matrix.

Re: Google Cloud Platform’s new interactive CLI

#10

Post by oblio » Fri, Mar 16, 2018, 3:10 PM UTC

zellyn wrote: post #4

Is this an open-source library one could use to make one's own interactive tools? Just curious. Anyone have pointers? Edit: I am slightly familiar with this family of tools. I was curious if there was a pointer to exactly the one used here.

I think this is quite popular: https://github.com/jonathanslenders/python-prompt-toolkit

For Rust this library seems nice: https://github.com/kbknapp/clap-rs (it generates autocompletion scripts for shells)