Command Editing#

To a person in 2023 the command line might look a bit like a word processing document. However, it’s not the same because the command line does not obey the mouse. That means that navigation of the command line has to be done only with the arrow keys. For example, in the screencast below I make a mistake. In order to fix it I have to use the arrow keys to navigate on the line back to the mistake.

Copy and Paste#

Copy and paste from the clipboard is one place where the command line has adapted to the graphical user interface. However, pasting text works a bit differently than they do in a word processor. As you can see in the screencast below when you paste from the clipboard the text appears at the cursor’s location (not where you point the mouse).

Each of the platforms (Windows, Mac and Linux) have slightly different ways to copy and paste. Become familiar with how your computer works, it’ll be really helpful to be able to copy and paste commands.