Command line interpreter: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

A command line interpreter is a computer program which reads a line of text the user has typed and interprets this text in the context of a given operating system or programming language.

Command line interpreters have the advantage that the user may issue a lot of commands in a very terse and efficient way. The downside is that one has to know the commands and their parameters. Examples of command line interpreters (some not actually well designed, but grown historically and intensively used)

• the various Unix shell programs such as Bash
• command.com (DOS, Windows).

The graphical user interfaces were an answer to this problem. However for certain complex tasks GUIs are more difficult to use than a command line interface, because of the large number of menus and dialog boxes presented, and therefore a well designed command line interface is easier to use.

• Scripting programming languages with an eval function, such as Perl, Python or Jython can serve as command line interpreters, and can also be used to create a more flexible Command line interface.