Details
Windows
Windows comes with a program that lets you enter text commands called Command Prompt. However, Command Prompt uses a different set of commands than Linux or Unix systems and is incompatible with the commands taught in our Terminal articles. It’s preferable to know the commands in our Terminal articles over the Command Prompt commands because they work on macOS and Linux (these commands are sometimes referred to as *NIX commands because macOS is based on Unix). Many websites run on Linux servers, so it’s useful to know the *NIX commands.
To use the *NIX commands on Windows, you need to install additional software. The easiest way to be able to use the *NIX commands on Windows is to install Git for Windows, which you can install by visiting the link below:
https://git-scm.com/download/win
For the most part, you can accept the default values at each step of the installation process. After you’re done, you’ll have a few applications installed on your computer: Git Bash, Git GUI, and Git CMD. The articles here on Simple Dev will focus on the commands for Git Bash.
There are other programs you can install to solve this problem, but since you’ll likely want Git on your computer as well as the ability to use the *NIX commands, we recommend Git for Windows.
macOS
macOS comes with an application called Terminal. You can use any of the commands in our Terminal articles inside the Terminal app. There are also 3rd party applications you can use like Hyper and iTerm2 instead of the built-in Terminal app.
VS Code Tip
VS Code has a built-in terminal that you can also use for this course. You can access it by going to View > Terminal.
When you use the VS Code terminal, it’ll automatically be inside your project folder, so you don’t need to use the cd command to navigate to your project.
Exercises
If you’re on macOS, open up the Terminal app. If you’re on Windows, install Git Bash.