command-line-rust VS nushell

You absolutely must write programs, preferably using tests to ensure you are creating correct and reproducible code. May I suggest starting with my book, Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022). All the code/data/tests are in https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust Note that there are branches showing how to use the 4.x version of clap (command-line argument parser) rather than the 2.33 that was current when the book was published.

I think the best way to start learning a programming language is to write lots of small programs that you probably already know. Rust is a perfect command-line language, so I think it makes sense to start by implementing simple programs like "head" and "grep." I also think one should always learn to write and run tests, so I present my GitHub repo of inputs and tests you might like to use to write 14 such standard Unix command-line utilities: https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust If you want guidance on the language, I wrote a book called Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022) that explains all this code. One caveat is that the "clap" (command-line argument parser) module was at 2.33 when I published but is now v4, so you should look at the appropriate branches for versions of the programs that use the "builder" and "derive" patterns for that module. Or just use any old command-line parser you like as there's no requirement to use "clap." Best of luck to you!

You must write programs in a language in order to learn it. I also firmly believe that learning how to write and run tests is critical to learning any language. I wrote Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022) for the beginner (in Rust, at least) and with a focus on writing and testing small programs from very simple "Hello, world!" and getting increasingly more complex. You can look at https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust for the code/inputs/tests. Best of luck!

Code for the above book

I'm the author of Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022), which I wrote to introduce the language slowly to beginners by writing and testing short, focused programs. You can look over the code/tests/data at https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust. Note that there are branches that show the same programs using a more recent version of the "clap" crate.

I wrote Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022) to guide beginners in the language. You are challenged to write small functions and programs using tests to verify that everything is correct. You can look over the code and tests at https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust. Best of luck in your journey!

Here are the example programs from my book, Command-Line Rust (O'Reilly, 2022), along with the input files and tests: https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust

I like to suggest that students write programs they already know (or at least understand). For instance, you probably understand that head shows the first few lines of a text file, and you probably can already implement some version of that in one or two languages you know. Try that in Rust. I wrote 14 BSD/GNU command-line utilities in Rust for learning purposes. I wouldn't consider these high-performance/production programs as they are tailored to learning the language. I also stress how to test programs, so there are tests and inputs you can use to verify your programs match the output of the original programs (or you can modify these to suit your own tastes for how you would like them to work). https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust

Here are some more examples you may or may not find useful: https://github.com/kyclark/command-line-rust I tend to have a main() that calls a library's run() function that returns a Result and then exit with a nonzero code and error message on a failure.

Since everyone is sharing shells written in Rust, I've become quite fond of Nushell: https://www.nushell.sh/

I'd love to see more shell exploring things beyond POSIX. Text based stdin/stdout will always have its place, but having ways to express, serialize, and pass along data in more structured ways is quite nice.

I'm an incredibly happy user of nushell, which brings all the best features of bash and all the best features of more well designed scripting languages in one awesome package that also comes with editor (LSP) support and excellent documentation

https://www.nushell.sh/

(The intro page may be a bit misleading. You can freely mix-and-match existing, unstructured as well as nushell-built-in structured commands in the pipeline, as long as you convert to/from string streams - its not mandatory to use the structured built-ins. For example if an existing cli tool has json output, you can use `tool | from json` to turn it into structured data. There are also commands like `detect columns` that parses classic column output, and so on - the tools to mix-and-match structured and unstructured data are convenient and expressive)

Best thing I've found recently is nushell[0], paired with jc [1] it's pretty much the best shell I've ever used.

[0] https://www.nushell.sh/

REPL-ify your command line then? There's nothing that says you have to be stuck on bash for your command line needs. https://www.nushell.sh/

Nearly all my developer tools are open-source projects written in Rust (Nushell, Helix, WezTerm, and more).

Have you tried nushell (https://www.nushell.sh/)? It embeds GNU coreutils written in Rust, so it feels like Linux even on a Windows machine.

> Another example is jq. I use it occasionally, and ChatGPT handles the syntax pretty well. For me, learning it properly just isn’t worth the time or effort.

This resonates with me, I was in exactly the same position when I needed to do something with `kubectl` JSON output - just ask ChatGPT because I couldn't be bothered to learn the unintuitive syntax.

Interestingly I _can_ blame the tool, because I started using Nushell[1] which has built-in JSON manipulation that provides a MUCH simpler syntax, and I have learnt this properly because it was that easy.

1: https://www.nushell.sh/

But these fantasy consoles are aimed largely at the classic BASIC use case of writing simple games. My interest, meanwhile, is in replacing my shell. I want a BASIC that can be a useful, productive stand-in for bash. In this sense, I'm actually more influenced by new-school shells like nushell, elvish and PowerShell.