Here's a detailed breakdown of 17 essential command-line tools every developer should know. These tools are designed to supercharge your productivity by simplifying complex tasks, automating repetitive processes, and providing intuitive interfaces for system and workflow management. Whether you're working with Git, Docker, JSON data, or system resources, these CLI tools will help you save time and focus on what matters most—writing great code.
zoxide
- Language: Rust🦀
- Stars: 23.9k⭐
- Alternative: cd, autojump, z
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD, Android
- Description: A smarter cd command that remembers your most frequently used directories, allowing you to jump between locations with just a few keystrokes
bat
- Language: Rust🦀
- Stars: 50.4k⭐
- Alternative: cat
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: A cat clone with syntax highlighting, Git integration, and automatic paging
fzf
- Language: Go
- Stars: 66.8k⭐
- Alternative: find, locate
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: A general-purpose command-line fuzzy finder that can be used with any list - files, command history, processes, hostnames, bookmarks, git commits
dust
- Language: Rust🦀
- Stars: 9.1k⭐
- Alternative: du
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows
- Description: A more intuitive version of du (disk usage) that displays disk usage in a colorful tree visualization
eza
- Language: Rust🦀
- Stars: 13.3k⭐
- Alternative: ls, exa
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: A modern, maintained replacement for ls with color schemes, Git integration, and extended features
fd
- Language: Rust🦀
- Stars: 34.7k⭐
- Alternative: find
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: A simple, fast, and user-friendly alternative to find, optimized for developer workflows
duf
- Language: Go
- Stars: 13k⭐
- Alternative: df
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: A better df alternative that displays disk usage statistics with colorful graphs and device information
procs
- Language: Rust🦀
- Stars: 5.2k⭐
- Alternative: ps
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows
- Description: A modern replacement for ps written in Rust, featuring colored output, process tree visualization, and resource usage statistics
ripgrep
- Language: Rust🦀
- Stars: 49.5k⭐
- Alternative: grep, ag
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: An extremely fast alternative to grep that respects gitignore rules and automatically skips hidden files, binary files, and directories
bottom
- Language: Rust🦀
- Stars: 10.5k⭐
- Alternative: top, htop
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows
- Description: A customizable cross-platform graphical process/system monitor with a responsive terminal UI
jq
- Language: C
- Stars: 30.9k⭐
- Alternative: sed, awk (for JSON)
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: A lightweight command-line JSON processor that can slice, filter, map, and transform structured data
the fuck
- Language: Python🐍
- Stars: 88.4k⭐
- Alternative: -
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: the fuck is a command line tool that corrects errors in previous console commands
lazydocker
- Language: Go
- Stars: 39.7k⭐
- Alternative: docker
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: The lazier way to manage everything docker
lazygit
- Language: Go
- Stars: 54.7k⭐
- Alternative: git
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: simple terminal UI for git commands
speedtest-cli
- Language: Python🐍
- Stars: 13.6k⭐
- Alternative: -
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: Command line interface for testing internet bandwidth using speedtest.net
tldr
- Language: Python🐍
- Stars: 52.5k⭐
- Alternative: -
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: The tldr-pages project is a collection of community-maintained help pages for command-line tools, that aims to be a simpler, more approachable complement to traditional man pages. https://tldr.sh/
glances
- Language: Python
- Stars: 27.3k⭐
- Alternative: -
- Supported OS: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD
- Description: Glances an Eye on your system. A top/htop alternative for GNU/Linux, BSD, Mac OS and Windows operating systems.
Conclusion:
Mastering the command line is an invaluable skill for developers, and the right tools can significantly boost your efficiency and productivity. The 17 CLI tools listed here are not just time-savers; they empower you to work smarter by providing better ways to navigate your system, manage workflows, and analyze data.
Whether you’re streamlining your Git operations with LazyGit, testing bandwidth with Speedtest-CLI, or keeping an eye on system resources with Glances, these tools are designed to simplify your tasks and enhance your development experience.
Explore these tools, integrate them into your daily workflow, and watch as they transform the way you work. Happy coding!
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