Section 2.1 What is the Command Line?
The first step to tackling the command line is to not be scared. Sure, it looks daunting and if you make a mistake you might produce some lengthy error messages, but at the very minimum, the command line is just another way to interact with your computer.
The command line (also known as a command prompt, command-line interface, or terminal) is an application that accepts lines of text and sends that text to your computer which performs an action.
Terminals are powerful and fast. Think of them as a more direct way to interact with your computer. You can delete files with the terminal. You can create new files. You can move files. You can open files. And more. There are many, many complicated and hard-to-comprehend functions of the command line. Rest assured, this chapter sticks with the basics; we will learn necessary functions for using Git (and a few others).
You may also hear about shells. A shell helps make the command line more interactive and user friendly. Some shells add colors, informative information, and/or predictive text. We will return to shells and command line customization in Appendix A. For now, do not worry about the details behind shells. A knowledge of them is not necessary to use Git, but they can help make things a little easier.
