Linux Terminal Essentials Every Developer Needs

You can do a lot of development work without ever leaving the terminal, but only if a small core of commands is second nature. This is the set I reach for daily. None of it is exotic, and all of it works in a stock bash installation, so you can rely on it on a fresh server, in a container, or on a colleague’s laptop.

Navigating the filesystem

Start with knowing where you are and what is around you.

pwd          # print the current directory
ls -la       # long listing, including hidden files
cd -         # jump back to the previous directory
cd           # with no argument, go home

cd - is the one people tend to miss. It toggles between two directories, which is handy when you are bouncing between a source tree and a log folder.

When you need more than two places, use a directory stack:

pushd ~/projects/api    # go there, remember where you were
pushd /var/log          # stack another one
dirs -v                 # show the stack with indexes
popd                    # return to the previous entry

Finding things

find locates files by name, type, size, or age. grep searches inside them.

find . -name "*.ts" -not -path "./node_modules/*"
find . -type f -mtime -1          # files changed in the last day
grep -rn "TODO" src/              # recursive, with line numbers
grep -rni --include="*.md" "systemd" .

If you search code often, install ripgrep (rg). It respects .gitignore, skips binary files, and is much faster on large repositories. The equivalent of the first grep above is simply rg -n TODO src/.

Pipes and redirection

Every program has standard output (1) and standard error (2). Pipes and redirects let you connect them.

ps aux | grep node | wc -l        # chain commands with |
ls -la > listing.txt              # overwrite a file
echo "done" >> build.log          # append to a file
make > build.log 2>&1             # send both streams to one file
make 2>&1 | tee build.log         # watch the output and save it

The order in 2>&1 matters: it means “send stderr to wherever stdout points right now”, so it must come after the > redirect. tee is the right tool when you want to see output live and keep a copy.

Viewing files

Avoid dumping large files with cat. Use a pager or look at the edges.

less +F app.log      # follow mode; Ctrl-C to stop following, q to quit
head -n 20 data.csv  # first 20 lines
tail -n 50 app.log   # last 50 lines
tail -f app.log      # stream new lines as they arrive

Inside less, /pattern searches forward, n jumps to the next match, and G goes to the end.

Job control

A long-running command does not have to block your shell.

• Ctrl-C stops the foreground process.
• Ctrl-Z suspends it and returns your prompt.
• bg resumes the suspended job in the background.
• fg brings it back to the foreground.
• jobs lists what the current shell is managing.

npm run build         # takes a while... press Ctrl-Z
bg                    # let it continue in the background
jobs                  # [1]+ Running  npm run build &
fg %1                 # bring job 1 back

For work that must survive closing the terminal, look at tmux or a proper service; I cover the latter in systemd basics.

Searching your history

Press Ctrl-R and start typing. Bash searches backwards through history for a matching command; press Ctrl-R again to cycle to older matches, Enter to run, or the right arrow to edit first. Combined with history | grep docker, you rarely need to retype anything long.

Habits worth building

• Tab-complete everything. It prevents typos and teaches you what exists.
• Use man and --help before searching the web; tldr pages are a nice shortcut for examples.
• Quote paths and patterns that contain spaces or wildcards.
• Preview destructive commands first, for example run the find command on its own before adding -delete.
• Turn repeated command lines into aliases once they annoy you. I wrote about that in shell aliases and functions.

What to do next

Pick two items from this list that you do not use yet, such as cd - and Ctrl-R, and force yourself to use them for a week. Once they are automatic, add the next pair. Small, deliberate repetition beats reading another cheat sheet.