Learn Enough Developer Tools to Be Dangerous: Command Line, Text Editor, and Git Version Control Essentials

All You Need to Know, and Nothing You Don't, About Core Tools for Software Development

Three of the core tools needed for modern software development are the Unix command line, a text editor, and version control with Git. But you don't need to learn "everything" about them, just how to use them efficiently to solve real problems. In Learn Enough Developer Tools to Be Dangerous, renowned instructor Michael Hartl teaches the specific concepts, skills, and approaches you need so you can learn to write apps, get hired, collaborate, and maybe even launch your own company.

Even if you've never used (or even heard of) these tools before, Hartl helps you quickly build technical sophistication and master the lore you need to succeed. Focused exercises help you internalize what matters, without wasting time on details pros don't care about. Soon, it'll be like you were born knowing this stuff--and you'll be suddenly, seriously dangerous.

Learn enough about . . .

• Running a terminal, entering and editing commands, and using man pages
• Manipulating and inspecting files: from basic copying to finding patterns
• Organizing files with directories
• Learning Minimum Viable Vim
• Basic and advanced editing techniques with editors like Atom and VS Code
• Using the human-readable Markdown language for writing quick documentation
• Formatting source code and writing executable scripts
• Getting started with Git and GitHub
• Using key Git workflows: commit, push, branch, merge, and more
• Collaborating on Git projects and resolving code conflicts
• Setting up dev environments: macOS, Linux, Windows, and cloud

Michael Hartl's Learn Enough series includes books and video courses that focus on the most important parts of each subject, so you don't have to learn everything to get started--you just have to learn enough to be dangerous and solve technical problems yourself.

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Michael Hartl created the legendary Ruby on Rails™ Tutorial that helped jumpstart thousands of web development careers. A cofounder and principal author at Learn Enough, Hartl previously earned a Ph.D. in physics at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Teaching. He is also an alumnus of Harvard University and the world-renowned Y Combinator entrepreneur program.