How to Deal with Long Commands in Linux

Dealing with Long Commands in Linux

As a Linux user, you’ve probably encountered commands that are just too long to type out. Not only can it be frustrating, but it can also lead to errors and typos. Fortunately, there are several ways you can deal with long commands and make your life easier.

Using Aliases

Aliases are a great way to simplify complex or lengthy commands. An alias is simply a shortcut for a longer command that you use frequently. For example, instead of typing out sudo apt-get update every time you want to update your system, you could create an alias like this:

alias upd='sudo apt-get update'

Now all you have to do is type upd in the terminal and the full command will be executed.

You can create aliases for any command that takes up too much space or requires frequent use.

Using Functions

Functions allow you to group several commands together into one reusable block of code. This is useful when dealing with long or complicated tasks that involve multiple steps.

For example, let’s say you frequently need to compress files into a zip archive using the same set of options each time:

zip -r -9 backup.zip /path/to/files

Instead of typing this entire command every time, we could create a function called backup like this:

function backup() {
    zip -r -9 backup.zip /path/to/files
}

Now all we have to do is type backup in the terminal and our files will be compressed into an archive using our predefined options.

Using Script Files

Script files allow us to automate tasks by executing multiple commands together in sequence. This is particularly useful when dealing with complex tasks that require many steps or when working on repetitive tasks where typing out the same set of instructions over and over again becomes tedious.

To create a script file, simply open up your favorite text editor (e.g., nano) and enter each line of code as if it were being typed into the terminal itself:

#!/bin/bash
echo "Hello World!"
ls /
mkdir new_directory/
cd new_directory/
echo "Goodbye World!"
exit 0

Then save this file as something like my_script.sh.

Now all we need to do is make sure it has execute permissions (chmod +x my_script.sh) so we can run it directly from the terminal:

./my_script.sh 

Conclusion

Long commands don’t have to slow down your workflow or cause frustration while working on linux machines! By leveraging aliases functions & scripts, you’ll become more efficient at completing routine jobs which involve such lengthy instructions quickly & easily without having much difficulty remembering them.

Incorporating these techniques will help eliminate unnecessary typing errors which may arise due unnecessarily repeating these lenghty Instructions. So what’s stopping? Start applying these hacks now!