It’s a beautiful Monday morning. Today, my team and I are starting a new project.

The project is to build a web application using ASP.NET with Entity Framework as an object-relational mapper (ORM), NuGet for managing dependencies, Git as a code versioning system, and, since the application is to be deployed on Azure, Bicep as an infrastructure scripting language.

A few years ago, I would have used GUI applications for this, such as the full-fledged Visual Studio, GitHub Desktop, or GitKraken, and the Azure portal.

Today, I doing most of my work in Visual Studio Code and its integrated terminal.

So, I use commands such as mkdir to create my project directory, cd to position myself into this directory, dotnet new to create my project, git init to initialize the Git repository, dotnet add package to add NuGet packages as dependencies to my project, dotnet ef dbcontext scaffold to generate a database context and all the entity...

Because they improve our productivity by keeping us focused on the task at hand.

You see, when we switch contexts between different applications, the chances are that we lose sight of what we were doing and get derailed from our task by some other unrelated activity.

By relying on CLI applications, all the commands that we type and execute happen to be within the same terminal, so we have a better chance of staying focused on what we are doing, thus achieving more.

That is the question. And the answer is quite simple: you don’t have to choose. In some scenarios, CLI applications make perfect sense, while in others they make no sense. Imagine using Microsoft Teams, Slack, or any tool of the Adobe Creative Suite. Would it make sense to interact with these applications as CLI applications? Of course not! (unless it is for installing and configuring them).

So, the point here is that you become aware of the power of CLI applications, and you start taking advantage of them in your everyday workflow. They are not meant to replace those outstanding GUI applications.

As my wife, Lamia Rarrbo (who is an executive coach) says: “This is not an or situation but rather an and situation.”

Let me tell you a true story. A few years ago, one of my customers asked me to come up with a solution to build workstation configuration profiles for different roles within their company.

This is nothing new, you may say, and you are exactly right!

So, what makes this situation worth mentioning? What makes it special?

For many years, this used to be achieved using customized OS images, depending on the role you have in the organization. However, this comes at a cost:

• The cost of storage: These images tend to be large and hence require a lot of disk space to store them.
• The cost of OS updates: When a new OS version is introduced, the IT department must recreate all images.
• The cost of tools updates: When new versions of the tools utilized by the various profiles are introduced, the IT department must recreate the impacted images.
• The cost of frustration: Since computers are configured...

Why is the preceding story interesting?

It’s not because of the use of PowerShell, WinGet, or Chocolatey. These are clearly CLI tools.

It is because we designed a way to install software from the command line without involving any GUI. This means that even if we are installing graphical applications (such as the Microsoft Office suite, internet browsers, and the Adobe suite), we are doing so by relying on their own CLI tools.

Yes, these graphical applications provide a CLI tool allowing us to install (and sometimes also configure) these applications.

A quick Google search and I found that there are even CLI applications for ChatGPT! Can you believe that?!

You can check out some of them at https://github.com/kardolus/chatgpt-cli and https://github.com/marcolardera/chatgpt-cli.

I am telling you: CLI applications are truly everywhere, and once you start caring about them, you start noticing how much they are part of your day!

If you work in IT, you have most likely already used at least one CLI application of some sort (and the chances are that you use many of them!), and you may even be using it on a daily basis.

I am sure that, by now, you have understood the value of CLI applications and the role they play in your everyday job.

In this book, we will explore every aspect of building our very own CLI applications, that serve our needs and those of our users and customers.

Feeling excited? Then, grab your keyboard, fire up your terminal, and let’s start coding!

We have only scratched the surface of what CLI applications can do and why they’re an essential tool in today’s tech landscape. I want this book to be your roadmap and your guide in this exciting journey.

Oh, and by the way, do not simply read this book, experience it!

Now, turn this page, and let’s continue our journey together. The world of CLI applications awaits you!

Enjoy the journey.