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Mac OS Terminal

Using the Terminal in Mac OS

Most of the time users interact through a Graphical User Interface to interact with the computer. You use the mouse to point and click to open, move, or create new files or open applications. But, you can also use the Terminal Application to interact with your machine through written commands. When you use the terminal, it allows you to dig deeper and customize in a way not possible through the GUI.

Opening the Terminal and Navigating Directories

Your terminal exists in the Applications directory. Open your Terminal app. You should see a prompt in the terminal window. it shoudl have the computer's name (ABC's Macbook), followed by the User name (ABC), and then a '$.' If you are in the root directory, the last character will be a '#.'

To see what directory you are working in, use pwd which stands for "print working directory" Directory is another word for folder.

If you want to list the directory's contents, use ls

To change directories, use cd <directory_path> which stands for change directory and replace the angle brackets with the appropriate path name. If you are currently in Documents and want to move into the directory/folder hello_world which is inside Documents use cd hello_world

Here is a list of common commands:

Command Usage
pwd Print Working Directory (Where Am I? )
ls List contents of current directory
mkdir <directoryname> Create a new directory
touch <filename> Create a new file
cp <filetobecopied> <nameforcopiedfile> Copy a file
rm <filename> Remove a file
rm -rf <directoryname> Forcibly remove a directory

Usage Examples

Some of the aforementioned commands aren't clear without examples. Below are a few usage examples to help provide you with some context.

Making a Directory

mkdir #YOUR-NEW-FOLDER-NAME-HERE

Making a File

touch YOUR-FILE-NAME.JS

You can make a file with any extension you choose. As long as it is in an a format accepted by the folder or machine.

Copying a File

Use the following syntax to copy a file from the terminal:

cp source destination

For example, if we have a file, 'test.txt' that is stored in our /Desktop directory and we want to copy it to the /Documents folder, our command would look like this:

cp ~/Desktop/test.txt ~/Documents

Deleting a File

Use the following syntax to delete a file

rm #PATH_TO_FILE

Detect which process is using the port you want to use

lsof -i :<PORT>

Terminate the process which uses the port you want to use

kill <PID>

Previewing file

If you would like to preview a file, type the command cat <name of document> and you would be able to preview a text document through the terminal.

iTerm2

iTerm2 is an alternative to the legacy terminal in Mac OS. iTerm2 brings some new features such as:

  • Split Panes
  • Hotkey Window
  • Search
  • Autocomplete
  • Paste history
  • Configurability
  • and many more

Just download iTerm2 from the official website. Additional documentation can be found here.

iTerm2 Improvements and Customizations

This guide shows you how you can improve terminal productivity, and have a bit more customization options.

Hyper

Another alternative is Hyper, an Electron-based terminal