Hey everybody! Today we're going to take a break from learning new commands, because I'd like to take a second to talk about writing these posts. If you haven't seen any of this series before, hopefully reading today's blog will pique your interest in the subject.

When I started interning at Quick Left, I didn't have a lot of experience programming. The key to learning, I've found, is just doing. Moreover, what I learn builds on itself. Having a solid foundation to build on is key on your quest to become an expert in any field, especially programming.

To that end, I truly believe that the power to work at the command line is crucial to being a proficient programmer. In your toolbox of abilities, you'll find yourself reaching for the command line again and again, probably more than any other tool. When I started coding, I didn't realize how useful and powerful it would be; I did a lot of things the hard way. When one of my coworkers pointed out a simpler way to accomplish the same feat at the command line, I was in awe. What other command line wonders was I missing out on?

I started learning as much as I could. There are several good resources out there for learning how to use your terminal and bash; however, a few were too technical and a few were too basic and just plain boring. I wished there was a tutorial that laid things out in a way that I understood and that would provide for me a solid foundation to build on.

So I wrote one. The act of writing reinforces what you know by challenging you to explain it in the simplest way possible. I have a stronger grasp on the commands I already knew, and in the course of writing this series, I've learned a few things along the way too. Compiling information and writing it down gives you the opportunity to find out what you know and what you don't know.

If you found these posts and didn't know anything about your shell, I hope that you now have a firm understanding of what it is and what it's capable of. If you already knew your way around the command line, I hope you've learned some new tricks. I know I have.