GUI over Command Line bad? [closed]

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As a developer, is it bad that I prefer using gui tools like WinSCP and eclipse over command line protocols and tools like vi/pico? Please list supporting reasons. I feel like command lines are unnecessarily complicated.

Answer 1

In my opinion there's nothing straight up wrong with it. I do believe you should at least be a little comfortable with the command line as it always comes in handy. But really it's just what you'd rather work with.

Answer 2

It's not necessarily bad to prefer one style of interface over another for a particular task, but a good developer should acknowledge the superiority of each in different situations.

Two advantages of command-line tools over GUI tools are easier remote working and much easier automation.

For example, take your case of WinScp versus scp; you might prefer the richer GUI interface for copying files from your local machine (and why not), but what happens when you want to copy files between multiple remote machines? It is much easier to do with a single line in the terminal than juggle multiple remote GUI logins.

Or, what about if you want to copy a file at a certain time each day or when a particular project builds? It is easy to set up a script to run a command-line tool under those conditions, and next to impossible to that through a GUI.

On the other hand, GUIs have some advantages. Most developers now prefer a full GUI like Eclipse for serious development. I'm a huge fan of Emacs myself, but I have to accept that when it comes to working with large, multi-programmer projects, fully-fledged IDEs have advantages that are hard to match.

To summarise, I expect developers to choose the right tool for the job. Personal preference comes into it, but I'd expect a competent developer to be fully at home in using basic command line tools like scp and an editor.