Command the CLI

One thing I have always enjoyed about tech is that the tech industry has its own “cool-factor”. Here’s what I mean by that: certain tech tools are super cool. The coolest? The Command Line Interface, or CLI for short. I love watching NCIS or movies that show people hacking via the terminal, or using the terminal to access local files. Is it totally unrealistic? Absolutely. Is it still cool? You better believe it!

When I first started my IT journey, I worked through earning an IT Support Specialist Certification with Google. Part of the training was utilizing the Power Shell, the terminal, and Linux’s Bash to become a command line power user. It was one of my favorite sections of the course because you can do so much from the CLI. In fact, before the GUI (graphical user interface), everybody had to cooperate through the CLI. Through the Command Line, you can quickly navigate to various files and directions, create and remove these items, and even modify your computer's disk partition and more. There is so much you can do through the CLI!

The Greatest CLI That Never Was

If I were ever going to build my own CLI (which sounds absolutely frightening to me, by the way), I would create a CLI that has all the functions of the general Terminal. I prefer Terminal over PowerShell and Bash, simply because I am more familiar with Terminal. I would create a CLI that actually speaks to you and can respond to audio/video from me. Think Terminal + ChatGPT. It could provide support in different programming languages, and provide input on code refactoring/deployment. Do I have any idea how to create something like that? Definitely not! Would it be the coolest thing ever! You better believe it!

The Necessity of Frameworks/Libraries

Without a framework, I would struggle to build just about any major application. I was able to use vanilla JavaScript to build a few small projects, such as a Tic-Tac-Toe game. However, React is so useful because I was able to break projects down into components. For me, the most difficult part of coding is organizing your thoughts and knowing where to begin and what exact functions and code I need to accomplish a task. React makes this difficult process easier for me, because I can set up my files in components. React also utilizes JSX, which is basically HTML and JavaScript together (I know it’s different under the hood, but that's what it looks like). So without React, creating projects based on any functionality or any dynamic elements would be much more difficult for me. Creating large projects, specifically large website or database structure elements, would be impossible for me without those frameworks and libraries.