How do I open a shell by default in my emacs' init file?

Question

When I start up emacs, I'd like to have a shell loaded up right away. Is there a way to do this by changing my .emacs file?

Answer 1

I just put (shell) to the end of my .emacs file and it opens right after emacs start up.

Answer 2

On a fresh install of Emacs 27.1, I had to do the following:

(custom-set-variables
 '(inhibit-startup-screen t))
(switch-to-buffer (shell))
(delete-other-windows)