What is a command prompt?

And why does it matter?

All computer operating systems like Windows, Linux and Mac OS X all have a command prompt. In the world of windows and PCs you might be familiar with the command prompt as DOS and you might have been under the impression that is disappeared with windows since people didn’t need to use it anymore.

And it’s sort of correct - for a very casual user of a computer you can get by without needing to access the command prompt of the computer.

But the command prompt is there and it offers great advantages to anyone who is willing to put the effort into learning it. If you are building a website or a piece of software then it’s really important to understand how to access the command prompt in your computer and how to use it.

Why bother to learn it?

The beauty of the command prompt is that it’s a first principle concept. It doesn’t change. If you invest time in learning it then you will have much deeper understanding of how your computer works.

Understanding the command prompt means having a deep understanding of how files and directories work. It gives you the power to fully understand how tools like GIT work.

It might seem a little hard or arcane to learn but think of it as a solid investment in yourself.