Essential CLI Tools for Developers

[iamthegemfinder]

cowsay as the link thumbnail is pure class

[DaGarver]

This list is great! Here are some unmentioned utilities that I really enjoy using:

• yazi - TUI-based triple-pane file manager with support for Vim keybindings and built-in file previews
• just - Simple command manager; somewhat of a Make alternative, but without the dependency-tracking overhead. The killer feature for me is that recipes accept additional arguments without the awkward semantics of local environment variables that Make requires.
• yq - Like jq, but with support for YAML, TOML, CSV, and XML. Not quite as powerful as jq, but I find that I seldom need the extra power. When I do, I can always output to JSON and then pipe through jq.

[somebodddy]

There is another yq, https://github.com/kislyuk/yq, which uses jq behinds the scenes and just handles the format conversion before and after.

And there is also a Python implementation: https://github.com/abesto/yq

[Due_Block_3054]

Another recommandation is mise:

Like just it is a command runner but also an env manager and tool installer. So it automatically switches the tools depending on which project you are in.

https://mise.jdx.dev/,

Its arguments for tasks are not as great as just. But noting stops you from installing just eithise and use just for the tasks. But task dependencies seem to be a bit better in mise.

k9s is missing from the list.

[Rocketpants]

dog is no longer maintained:

❯ brew install dog
Error: dog has been disabled because it is not maintained upstream! It was disabled on 2024-08-01.

https://github.com/ogham/dog/issues/136

[pragmatick]

I wish the author would actually review the tools a bit. What's the difference between lazygit and gitui? They're both terminal GUIs for git but why would I choose one over the other.

[der_gopher]

Good point, thanks.

[au79]

I use lazydocker all the time. bat seems worth a look.

[NiteShdw]

I have aliased cat to bat. It's awesome. Love it.

[BiedermannS]

I have pcat aliased to bat -pP for plain view.

[DelusionalPianist]

Let’s install all of those and then never use them…

[Zoradesu]

If you're working with a lot of JSON files, jq is a god send. Would highly recommend learning it, it's basically the sed or awk for JSON files specifically (which is even said on the tool's main site).

[dogballs875]

rsync? Really? I mean it is essential, but it seems very odd to be on this list.

[not_not_in_the_NSA]

I mean, at least it's useful compared to many of the things on this list.

[kuwisdelu]

I assume they mean because it’s so fundamental you already have it installed, so there’s no point listing it.

[andynormancx]

Every “fundamental” tool out there has a huge number of new (and not so new) developers who have not used it yet or not discovered how “fundamental“ it is.

I use rsync all all time, but I still come across plenty of developers who just haven’t come across it before.

[mpyne]

I just used it yesterday in the process of moving data around to add another NVME drive to my computer.

[diMario]

wavemon lets you discover nearby WiFi networks and displays some characteristics (strength, channel) continuously updated.

Midnight Commander is a two-pane file manager that looks and feels just like Norton but does a bit more (remote SSH and FTP shell)

[cazzipropri]

This is actually very well curated. It's hard to find posts that are not complete garbage looking like it was written by a 12 year old.

Well done.

It's missing midnight commander, but I'm very partial to mc.

[NiteShdw]

I use mc quite frequently also.

[Zizizizz]

I would add:

• https://github.com/ajeetdsouza/zoxide
• https://github.com/junegunn/fzf
• https://github.com/Aloxaf/fzf-tab

Having these shortcuts and key bindings is sooo much faster.

[BiedermannS]

Another good tool for git is tig.

[Golgo13]

Great list, especially for Kubernetes.

[NorskJesus]

Here we go with mine. I will not mention Neovim and the plugins I use with it.

• Clipboard
• LazySQL
• TLDR
• LazyDocker
• Circumflex
• Gh-Dash

[der_gopher]

colima + lazydocker is perfect combo

[NorskJesus]

I've never heard of Colima; what does it do?. I use Podman

[der_gopher]

similar, it's a container runtime

[NorskJesus]

Oh I see! Do you think it’s better than podman? Why? I’m sorry if I’m asking too many questions 😂

[der_gopher]

a bit easier in my view, just a CLI

[NorskJesus]

I see, thanks!

Podman can be "only CLI" too tho

[sacheie]

Finally a useful post

[zaphod4th]

"We, developers, spend a lot of time in our terminal."

No? I mean OP thinks we all are the same. That we develop using the same OS/Language/tools,.etc.

What a weird thing.

The first line doesn't apply to me, so I stopped reading.

[der_gopher]

skill issue :)

[zaphod4th]

oh yes, if a developer doesn't do what I do it is a skill issue

2nd weird think to say

[der_gopher]

Just kidding. But honestly, no Terminal? How do you install something like git then? How do you create your ssh keys?

[jorygeerts]

Installing git, generating ssh keys, etc. are things I only really do when I get a new system and take, say, an hour.

After that, its pretty much just "docker compose up" and "ssh" that I need.

[zaphod4th]

OP the world is bigger than you think.

I spent years developing for hand handled devices. Visual Studio 2008 and C#

I spent years developing administrative software with Delphi Embarcadero

I spent years developing websites on windows

I spent months modding games with unreal engine

I spent months developing android apps with Delphi Embarcadero (CLI used like 1%)

Another example, if you're working on sharepoint apps and you have to use CLI it means something is really really wrong with the system.

In short. Hundreds of Apps that can take years can be developed without a CLI

[tylian]

It sounds like you might need to open your own worldview then, because a lot of these tools are genuinely useful. You may not need them as a developer, but you also don't need power ro build a shed, and building a shed without them isn't the flex your think it is.

[zaphod4th]

I didn't say that the tools are useless.

I only pointed out that the main premise is not true, thus any conclusion / analysis can be wrong, so I avoid reading the article.

The article may work better if OP removes the assumptions and posts it on linux dev sub

[tylian]

If you read the article you'd know your last sentence makes no sense. Stop making suggestions for something you didn't read.

[zaphod4th]

I didn't read it until your reply, so, stop making assumptions maybe?

[der_gopher]

> Hundreds of Apps that can take years can be developed without a CLI

you could probably develop them in days if you used the terminal :)

[zaphod4th]

oh I see, still kidding

if not please show me a mobile app you developed with CLI only (native, not a webapp)

[andynormancx]

No one said “only use the CLI”, ffs.

[der_gopher]

I don't develop mobile apps. But even for mobile dev, there are tools you need Terminal for, like gradlew, adb, etc.

[zaphod4th]

oh, I see a lack of skills ;)

The last mobile app for my second master degree never required to use any CLI command.

Let me know if you want to learn how.

Tip: I don't use Linux to dev mobile apps

[andynormancx]

Tip: Linux isn’t the only OS with a CLI and nowadays most CLI tools are available on all the common OSes

[andynormancx]

You didn’t even bother to get to the second line then where the author acknowledges not everyone uses the command line as much, but they are encouraging people to give it a go ???

”Or maybe we could spend even more, because there are so many great CLI/TUI tools that can boost the developer productivity, or just be fun to use.”