szemate commented 2 years ago

It has been a recurring comment during teachers' retros that trainees are very uncomfortable using the command line. During the SQL lessons (the last module of the course) a lot of trainees still find the terminal obscure and scary, and don't seem to understand very basic concepts like the working directory and keyboard interrupt. This is because the syllabus has very little emphasis on teaching the command line. Lesson 2 of the Git module is a nice introduction, but it doesn't cover topics that would be beneficial for later modules.

I would propose adding an extra lesson dedicated to command line usage at a later stage of the course. It could include the following topics:

The difference between various shells that we use in the course (bash, node shell, psql shell)
Parts of a CLI command (short options, long options, arguments)
How to get help (-h, --help, man pages, tab completion)
Important keyboard shortcuts (ctrl+c, ctrl+d, up/down arrows, tab)
Working directory, absolute vs. relative paths
Environment variables and how to read them in a node.js script

SallyMcGrath commented 1 year ago

CLI-Treasure-Hunt

We can also assign some of Ops School UNIX 101 https://www.opsschool.org/unix_101.html

SallyMcGrath commented 1 year ago

Also the Bandit! Let's start assigning this stuff -- I agree everyone just needs a lot more practice in the black box. https://overthewire.org/wargames/bandit/

CodeYourFuture / syllabus

The command line needs to be taught in more depth #372

311 https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/CLI-Treasure-Hunt