What is a Terminal?
Understand what a terminal is, how it differs from a shell, and why it still matters in the age of AI.
Before graphical interfaces existed, the terminal was the only way to interact with a computer. You typed a command, pressed Enter, and the computer responded with text. That simple loop — type, enter, read — is still one of the fastest and most powerful ways to control a machine.
You’ll often hear terminal, shell, and CLI used like they mean the same thing. They’re related, but not identical:
- The terminal (or terminal emulator) is the window you type into.
- The shell is the program running inside that window. It reads your commands and talks to the operating system.
- CLI stands for _command-line interface_. It’s any program you control by typing commands instead of clicking buttons.
Why does this still matter in a world with AI and modern developer tools?
Because most infrastructure, automation, and developer tooling still runs through the terminal. AI tools often generate terminal commands. If you understand what those commands do, you can verify results, debug issues, deploy projects, and automate repetitive work. The terminal is essentially the universal remote control for computing.
●
You don't need to memorize commands. Terminal skills are built through repetition. Every time you run a command, you're reinforcing the pattern.
Let’s start simple.
The
echo command prints text back to the screen.echo "hello terminal"When you run this, the terminal simply repeats the text. It’s often used in scripts, debugging, or testing how commands behave.
Practice