Command Line Interface (CLI)

Introduction

A command-line interface (CLI) is a mechanism for interacting with a computer operating system or software by typing commands to perform specific tasks.

The concept of the CLI originated when teletypewriter machines (TTY) were connected to computers in the 1950s, and offered results on demand, compared to batch oriented mechanical punched card input technology. Dedicated text-based CRT terminals followed, with faster interaction and more information visible at one time, then graphical terminals enriched the visual display of information.

Currently personal computers encapsulate all three functions (batch processing, CLI, GUI) in software.

Usage

A CLI is used whenever a large vocabulary of commands or queries, coupled with a wide (or arbitrary) range of options, can be entered more rapidly as text than with a pure GUI.