102-02 Reading Notes: Text Editors & Terminals

Text Editors in Comparison

Things to look for in a text editor:

Readibility

• Syntax highlighting
• Reduced eye strain
• Comfortable layout

  Coding-friendly features

• Auto-complete
• Bracket, quote closing

  Extensions

• Features & functionality beyond basic text
• Adaptability for future changes/needs

  Plain text?

• Typeface changes are a red flag
• Keep saved file extension suffix in mind
• No coding assistance

  Vs. Integrated Development Environment

• IDEs include features like compiling & debugging

Terminal Use Tips & Terminology

Command line = Terminal

-Prompt-> command -> command line arguments

• “Commands” are followed by spaces and then by command line arguments
• Not all commands produce output when successful
• Shell: OS feature managing terminal behavior & appearance
• “Up Arrow” & “Down Arrow” keys retrieve previous command entries

Locations, Navigation, & Directories

Important Commands

• ‘PWD’ (Print Working Directory) : outputs current working location

• ‘ls’ (List) : outputs files & directories at location; can be refined with command line options & arguments

• ‘cd’ (Change Directory) : used with command line arguments to change to specified directory (returns home if blank)

• [in Linux] ‘file’ : Outputs file type at specified path

Paths

• Files & directories identified within tiered structure
• Root directory is /, followed by subdirectories
• Relative (no specified directory; no initial /) or Absolute paths may describe the same file
• ~ : Home directory stand-in in paths
• . : Current directory stand-in in paths
• .. : Parent (root-ward) directory stand-in in paths; can be repeated (ie., “../../Document1.txt)”
• [In Linux] Can be hidden with . preceding file name, ie. “ .Document1.txt” ; “-a” command line argument for ‘ls’ command includes hidden files

Tips

• Hit ‘Tab’ key for auto-complete (hit again if multiple possibilities); automatically escapes spaces in paths
• [In Linux] Case sensitivity in paths (including extension suffixes) and commands
• Be wary of spaces in path names (use quotes around path in terminal, ie. “ ‘My Documents ‘ “ or ‘' before space, ie. “My\ Documents”)