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Alan Gibbons
4,313 PointsIs Github Desktop worth learning? I heard command line is the only way for true devs to go.
It was my understanding that any respectable developer must know command line. Is this just certain dev pros being snobby, a factual statement, or more probably some combination of the two?
Does Github Desktop have real use for web-dev pros? Or is it better as a tool to be used for an introduction to Github itself?
2 Answers
Kevin Korte
28,149 PointsThe CLI tool for is a super valuable skillset to have. With that said, the desktop GUI is there for a reason. If you need/want the GUI to get into the git workflow, great! Actually, that's what I did. I started with the GUI desktop app when I first started using git. I've since switched over to just using the CLI for it, out of pure lazyness really. It is just "faster" to use, so that's what I do.
I can't speak on the features between the CLI and GUI, but I wouldn't be surprised if the GUI can't do everything that the CLI can. You know the CLI will be full featured, but that many features could be tough to write into the GUI. Not sure on that one though.
James Welch
10,363 PointsCLI (Command Line Interface) or CUI (Console User Interface) has it's benefits.
I'm not great with the command line, so I might not be the guy to answer but I'll give it a shot, in case nobody else gives answers! :-)
A GUI (Graphical User Interface) is all fine and dandy but not as powerful as CLI, believe it or not, it's actually slower. The commands in the CLI are usually short for obvious reasons (It'd be annoying to write printworkingdirectory instead of pwd haha). So once you have the commands nailed down, you will be more efficient and save time :-). I mentioned it is more powerful, being that you can even destroy your operating system (bad bad bad!) But then again I'm not a pro so I can't give much detail there.
I don't know where it'd come in with github, but the CLI is also more secure due to GUI's having security holes :-)
This is just general command line stuff, though. I'd still recommend it for using github - in the long run you will benefit.
Also interested in seeing what more experienced developers have to share about this! Sorry, I've most likely not answered your question haha.
Alan Gibbons
4,313 PointsJames,
I found your response helpful, so thank you. Come to think of it, I would reckon the devs will touch on that subject in later courses. I believe the reason one non-Treehouse dev I spoke with told me that CLI is so great for Github is that is simply expedites the process of updating code, especially on large projects and those involving numerous people. And possibly that there are (maybe?) things you can do with the CLI for Github that you can't do with the desktop software. I can't recall.
With how the course content is structured, I'm sure they didn't want to overload a new learner and send them into a full-blown panic. Which I completely understand now in retrospect. And, in fact, they very first video they had for the workshop is called "Introducing Github." I'm sure that is there intention and they'll touch more on best/most-efficient practices in further down-the-line courses.
Your answer helped me get a good idea of what the CLI/CUI can be used for.
Thanks a lot, James.