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This article is part of a self-published book project by Balthazar Rouberol and Etienne Brodu , ex-roommates, friends and colleagues, aiming at empowering the up and coming generation of developers. We are currently hard at work on it!
If you are interested in the project, we invite you to join the mailing list ! Table of Contents
Which terminal should I use?
(What font should I use?
(What shell should I use?
(Configuring your shell
(Configuring your prompt
(Shell configuration frameworks)
Summary
(Going further)
It is very common for programmers to tweak and customize their terminal and shell for hours, add or write new plug-ins, all in pursuit of the “Perfect environment” and an increase of productivity. Others, on the Contrary, avoid tweaking their shell altogether in order to always get the same experience on every machine.
On a personal note, I tend to favor having a personalized shell as much as possible. I feel that sharing files between different computers is now a solved issue, and the benefits I get from having personalized my work environments are so great that I gladly pay the small price of synchronizing that configuration between my computers. [nyae] In that chapter, we will learn more about the shell and how to configure your terminal environment to make it work for you. Please note that some of the recommendations come from personal taste, and might not work for you nor suit you. We encourage you to explore and find what feels right, but we hope to at least nudge you in the right direction. Which terminal should I use?
[
nyae] First off, if you are new to using the terminal, you might not have realized that it exists multiple terminal applications. MacOS comes with Terminal pre-installed, and most Linux distributions come with either xterm, Gnome-terminal or Konsole pre-installed, and there is a vast number of available alternatives. I don’t think there is a good, absolute and definitive answer when it comes to picking the “right” terminal application. You might get various answers depending who you ask. That being said, I can at least mention my own personal recommendations and preferences.
Whatever terminal you end up using, I think that it is really important you configure it to your liking and preferences. As a programmer, you will probably spend a great deal of time in your terminal, and for you to feel productive and empowered, it needs to work for you. Terminator
If you are running Linux, I personally favor Terminator (1) (1) over the default choices. It has several features I find useful:
a tab system, allowing you to have multiple tab of terminal (s) within the same window
a grid system, allowing you to have multiple terminals in the same tab
I can work in multiple panes within the same tab, and have one tab per project
Here are the terminator keyboard shortcuts I find the most useful:
- Which terminal should I use?
(What font should I use?
(What shell should I use?
(Configuring your shell
(Configuring your prompt
(Shell configuration frameworks)
Summary
(Going further)
It is very common for programmers to tweak and customize their terminal and shell for hours, add or write new plug-ins, all in pursuit of the “Perfect environment” and an increase of productivity. Others, on the Contrary, avoid tweaking their shell altogether in order to always get the same experience on every machine.
On a personal note, I tend to favor having a personalized shell as much as possible. I feel that sharing files between different computers is now a solved issue, and the benefits I get from having personalized my work environments are so great that I gladly pay the small price of synchronizing that configuration between my computers. [nyae] In that chapter, we will learn more about the shell and how to configure your terminal environment to make it work for you. Please note that some of the recommendations come from personal taste, and might not work for you nor suit you. We encourage you to explore and find what feels right, but we hope to at least nudge you in the right direction. Which terminal should I use?
[
nyae] First off, if you are new to using the terminal, you might not have realized that it exists multiple terminal applications. MacOS comes with Terminal pre-installed, and most Linux distributions come with either xterm, Gnome-terminal or Konsole pre-installed, and there is a vast number of available alternatives. I don’t think there is a good, absolute and definitive answer when it comes to picking the “right” terminal application. You might get various answers depending who you ask. That being said, I can at least mention my own personal recommendations and preferences. Whatever terminal you end up using, I think that it is really important you configure it to your liking and preferences. As a programmer, you will probably spend a great deal of time in your terminal, and for you to feel productive and empowered, it needs to work for you. Terminator
If you are running Linux, I personally favor Terminator (1) (1) over the default choices. It has several features I find useful:
a tab system, allowing you to have multiple tab of terminal (s) within the same window
a grid system, allowing you to have multiple terminals in the same tab
I can work in multiple panes within the same tab, and have one tab per project
Here are the terminator keyboard shortcuts I find the most useful:
- a grid system, allowing you to have multiple terminals in the same tab
I can work in multiple panes within the same tab, and have one tab per project
Here are the terminator keyboard shortcuts I find the most useful: