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Introduction to the Command Line for Economics

Command line interface (OS shell) and graphic user interface (GUI) are different ways of interacting with a computer’s operating system. The shell is a program that presents a command line interface which allows you to control your computer using commands entered with a keyboard instead of controlling graphical user interfaces (GUIs) with a mouse/keyboard combination.

There are quite a few reasons to start learning about the shell:

Getting Started

This lesson assumes no prior experience with the tools covered in the workshop. Participants should bring their laptops and plan to participate actively.

This lesson is part of a workshop that uses data hosted on Zenodo. Please see the Workshop setup page.

For Instructors

If you are teaching this lesson in a workshop, please see the Instructor notes.

Schedule

Setup Download files required for the lesson
00:00 1. Introducing the Shell What is a command shell and why would I use one?
How can I move around on my computer?
How can I see what files and directories I have?
How can I specify the location of a file or directory on my computer?
00:30 2. Navigating Files and Directories How can I perform operations on files outside of my working directory?
What are some navigational shortcuts I can use to make my work more efficient?
01:20 3. Working with Files and Directories How can I view and search file contents?
How can I create, copy and delete files and directories?
How can I control who has permission to modify a file?
How can I repeat recently used commands?
02:05 4. Redirection How can I search within files?
How can I combine existing commands to do new things?
02:50 5. Writing Scripts and Working with Data How can we automate a commonly used set of commands?
03:30 6. Project Organization How can I organize my file system for a new empirical project?
How can I document my work?
04:00 Finish

The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.