Home Command-Line Course

Command Line Course Notes

Welcome to my Command Line course notes! This page summarizes the key skills and reflections from each week of the course.

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Week 1: Command Line Basics

Main Content:
We learned to navigate and manipulate files and directories using the terminal. Key skills included:

• Listing directory contents (ls) and changing directories (cd)
• Creating, moving, copying, and deleting files and directories
• Viewing text files (less) and editing files in a text editor
• Changing file permissions
• Visiting the root directory

Example Commands:

# List files in current directory
ls

# Create a new directory and move into it
mkdir directory_name
cd directory_name

# Copy a file
cp ~/Documents/example.txt .

Reflection:
I now feel comfortable moving around the file system and performing basic operations efficiently in the command line.

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Week 2: Character Encodings & Text Processing

Main Content:
We explored text processing and file formats, including:

• Understanding ASCII, Latin-1, and UTF-8 encodings
• Converting text files between encodings and formats
• Counting lines, words, and characters; sorting and transforming text
• Cutting and pasting columns in structured files
• Using grep and sed for pattern searching and editing
• Piping commands to create efficient workflows

Example Commands:

# Convert a text file from Latin-1 to UTF-8
iconv -f ISO-8859-1 -t UTF-8 file_latin1.txt > file_utf8.txt

# Count lines, words, and characters
wc file_utf8.txt

# Extract all lines starting with uppercase letters
grep '^[A-Z]' file_utf8.txt

# Remove duplicate lines from a sorted file
sort file.txt | uniq > file_unique.txt

Reflection:
I learned how to manipulate text files and automate workflows, which is essential for processing large datasets or preparing corpora for analysis.

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Week 3: Scripting and Environment Management

Main Content:
We learned to write simple shell scripts and manage the environment:

• Using command-line parameters, if statements, and command substitution
• Viewing and setting environment variables, making permanent changes via .bashrc / .bash_profile
• Using sudo to run commands as root, installing software (apt-get, brew, pip)
• Creating Python virtual environments and installing packages

Example Commands:

# simple script to print the first argument
echo "Hello, $1!"

# Using if statement
if [ "$1" == "admin" ]; then
    echo "You have admin privileges."
fi

Reflection:
Scripting allows me to automate tasks, and environment management makes the command-line workspace more productive and personalized.

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Week 4: Processes, Remote Access, and Git

Main Content:
We focused on system processes, remote connections, and version control:

• Finding and killing processes, running commands in the background
• Connecting to remote servers and transferring files with scp
• Setting up Git, committing changes, branching, merging, and pushing to GitHub

Reflection:
I now understand how to manage processes and work with remote servers. Git has become an essential tool for tracking changes and collaborating on projects.

Example Commands:

# Initialize a repository
git init

# Stage and commit changes
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"

# Push changes to remote repository
git push origin main

# Create and switch to a new branch
git checkout -b feature-branch

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Week 5: GitHub Pages and Jekyll

Main Content:
We learned to deploy websites using GitHub Pages and Jekyll. We created Markdown pages, customized layouts, and published content online.

Reflection:
Seeing my work live on the web was rewarding. I learned how Markdown, Jekyll, and GitHub Pages integrate to create simple websites.

Course Summary Table

Week	Topic	Key Skills/Tools
1	Command Line Basics	ls, cd, mkdir, rm
2	Text Processing	grep, sed, pipelines
3	Scripting & Environment	Shell scripts, env vars
4	Processes & Git	ps, kill, Git commands
5	GitHub Pages & Jekyll	Markdown, Jekyll, GitHub Pages

One of my very first commands.

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This summary captures the main content and reflections from each week, providing a concise overview of the Command Line course.