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Terminal

A terminal is a program that lets you control your computer by typing commands. You can create and move files and folders, run programs, install development tools, and much more.

Instead of clicking icons and menus with a mouse, you tell the computer what to do by entering a command. We will use the terminal frequently to set up Python and run our programs.

A terminal showing commands and a list of files

CLI and GUI

A command-line interface (CLI) lets you interact with a computer through typed commands. You enter a command, and the computer runs it and displays the result.

A graphical user interface (GUI) lets you interact through visual elements such as icons, windows, menus, and buttons. This is how you normally use apps and web browsers.

Why use the terminal?

The terminal makes many tasks quick and precise. Creating several files, starting a project, or installing a package can be as simple as running a command.

Most development tools provide command-line commands. You can create Python virtual environments, install libraries, and start a server from the terminal.

Having to remember commands may feel unfamiliar at first. But you will use a small set of commands most often, and it is perfectly fine to look up others as you need them.

Opening a terminal

Each operating system provides its own terminal applications.

macOS

  • Press Command + Space to open Spotlight, type Terminal, and launch it.
  • You can also open it from Applications > Utilities > Terminal.

Windows

  • Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog, type powershell, and press Enter.
  • You can also search for PowerShell in the Start menu.

PowerShell

Windows provides both Command Prompt (cmd) and PowerShell as command-line environments. This guide uses PowerShell, which offers more features and works well with modern development tools.

Exercises

Open a terminal and enter the command below. If it lists the files and folders in your current location, you are ready to go.

ls

dir
Answer and explanation

On macOS and Linux, ls lists the files and folders in the current location. In Windows PowerShell, use dir. PowerShell also supports ls as an alias for the same operation.