If developers all share one thing in common, it is their use of the command line to get their jobs done. Many development tools don’t come with a graphical user interface (GUI) and rely on a command line interface (CLI). There are a lot of upsides to a CLI first or only approach. Once you master the command line, you can work more efficiently than a GUI might allow and gain the awesome superpower of scripting, allowing all of your tools to start working in concert. Scripting is the bedrock for building and managing software delivery pipelines and CI/CD workflows.

However, there is nothing more intimidating, especially to a newer dev, than a blank terminal window with a blinking cursor awaiting your commands. There is no helpful UI to guide you toward your goal; you just have to know what to enter. All the burden of getting it just right falls on the developer’s shoulders, and there is a lot to learn, especially when you factor in security.