Getting a Terminal
The playground on this site runs entirely in your browser, so you can start learning right away without installing anything. But at some point you will want a real terminal on your own machine — here is how to get one.
macOS
macOS ships with a terminal built in.
- Press Cmd + Space to open Spotlight.
- Type Terminal and press Enter.
That opens the default Terminal app. It runs zsh (since macOS Catalina) and everything in this course works with it out of the box.
Optional upgrade: iTerm2 is a free replacement for Terminal.app with better split panes, search, and customization. Most macOS developers use it. Install it when you are ready — nothing in this course requires it.
Windows
Windows does not ship with a bash-compatible terminal. The recommended option for beginners is Git Bash.
Install Git Bash
- Go to git-scm.com/downloads and download the Windows installer.
- Run the installer. The defaults are fine — click through without changing anything.
- When it finishes, open the Start menu, search for Git Bash, and open it.
Git Bash gives you a bash shell with all the commands covered in this course: ls, cd, grep, find, pipes, redirects — everything. It also installs git, which you will need for the DataReady course.
Git Bash is the right choice for this curriculum. It takes about two minutes to install and requires no configuration.
Linux
Open your distro's terminal emulator — it is already there. Everything in this course works as-is.
Once you have a terminal open, you are ready to move on to the next lesson.