[content] cli utilities

content/blog/a-few-of-my-favorite-cli-things.md

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+---
+title: These Are a Few of My Favorite CLI Things...
+description: I take a look at a few of the CLI utilities I've picked up along the way.
+date: 2024-03-21T09:16:32-0400
+tags: [tooling]
+---
+
+I've recently been perusing the setups at [uses.tech](https://uses.tech/). It's interesting to see where people have landed on hardware and software options, but I started thinking about some of the miscellaneous CLI utilities I've tried and picked up along the way. My work LIVES inside the terminal (as a Vim user) and here are some of the small things I've found to make it easier on myself (in no particular order):
+
+- [`tig`](#tig)
+- [`exa`](#exa)
+- [`bashmarks`](#bashmarks)
+- [`ffmpeg`](#ffmpeg)
+- [`degit`](#degit)
+- [`just`](#just)
+- [`asdf`](#asdf)
+- [`btop`](#btop)
+
+## tig
+
+**Site:** [https://jonas.github.io/tig/](https://jonas.github.io/tig/)
+
+Git can be weird sometimes. While I don't use `tig` to perform any git operations, I find the explorer view helpful to see what's going on in there. Have you rebased correctly? What did your teammates just commit, and what files did it affect? I run this constantly on active projects to keep a mental picture of what's going on.
+
+(So what DO I do most of my git actions with? I use Tim Pope's excellent [Fugitive](https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive) Vim plugin, but that's more Vim-based, so it doesn't qualify for this article...)
+
+<div class="feature rounded-1 overflow-hidden lh-0">
+  <video class="w-full h-auto" autoplay muted loop playsinline>
+      <source src="https://github.com/nathanlong/nathanlong.github.io/assets/623568/44491262-1f61-402d-b394-31c16aa65bcd" type="video/mp4" />
+  </video>
+</div>
+
+## exa
+
+**Site:** [https://the.exa.website/](https://the.exa.website/)
+
+`exa` is a more colorful way to list files and directories. It may seem simple, but when you're navigating around, having color-coded items, as well as other pertinent information right at hand, is a nice quality-of-life improvement. This has completely replaced `ls -laF` for me. I've aliased the two modes I use the most to:
+
+```bash
+alias ll='exa --long --header --git --all' # long form, everything
+alias lt='exa --tree --level=2 --long --all' # tree view
+```
+
+<div class="feature rounded-1 overflow-hidden lh-0">
+  <video class="w-full h-auto" autoplay muted loop playsinline>
+    <source src="https://github.com/nathanlong/nathanlong.github.io/assets/623568/4faafda2-4c14-49ad-a48f-7f21bbf289dd" type="video/mp4" />
+  </video>
+</div>
+
+## bashmarks
+
+**Github:** [https://github.com/huyng/bashmarks](https://github.com/huyng/bashmarks)
+
+I found this bash script about 12 years ago and I've used it every day since then. It's a very simple bookmarking system for navigating directories with tab completion and very short commands. `s` saves the current directory with the name you give it, and `g` + `name` takes you right back to that path.
+
+I've tried fuzzy completion and other fancier bookmarking options, but this one is so simple and does just what I need that I've wound up back at bashmarks several times. I'll save the fancy fuzzy searching for INSIDE projects, I'd rather just teleport to where I need to go. I highly recommend this script if you need a simple navigation option.
+
+## ffmpeg
+
+**Site:** [https://ffmpeg.org/](https://ffmpeg.org/)
+
+This is an absolute monster of a video and audio tool. Need to compress a looping ambient hero video? Run it through `ffmpeg`. Need to strip the audio from something? Run it through `ffmpeg`. Need to quickly trim down a video? You guessed it, `ffmpeg`. I have shaved innumerable megabytes of video data with this tool while processing assets for client projects.
+
+The only beef I have with it is that writing out the arguments for proper compression is like trying to write an arcane spell. You need special knowledge of `ffmpeg`'s vast options and some knowledge of video codecs to make your way. Yet despite that, it remains an indispensable tool for front-end development.
+
+The video screencaps in this article were captured with a normal Quicktime screen recording, but I have a special quickfire mov-to-mp4 command that uses the absolute basic mp4 defaults and still manages to make them 5-10% of the original `.mov` size:
+
+
+```bash
+# Quicktime mov files are so big!
+function movtomp4() {
+	for i in *.mov; do 
+		ffmpeg -i "$i" "${i}.mp4"; 
+	done
+}
+```
+
+At some point, I'll have to write up my cheatsheet for `ffmpeg`...
+
+## degit
+
+**Github:** [https://github.com/Rich-Harris/degit](https://github.com/Rich-Harris/degit)
+
+I learned about `degit` from the Vite docs, and it's become my go-to way for initializing a prototype kit. When I have an idea I want to try, I turn to `degit` and let it grab all the configuration files for me. Need Tailwind? Grab a starter kit for that. Testing out something in React? There's a starter kit you can pull for that too.
+
+In fact, I made a few [starter kits of my own](/blog/vite-rapid-prototype-starter-kits/).
+
+## just
+
+**Github:** [https://github.com/casey/just](https://github.com/casey/just)
+
+Do you have a project that needs lots of arbitrary commands? Things you have to continually look up and paste back into your console? `just` helps provide a unified layer on top of whatever system you're using. Unlike a Rakefile or Makefile, it's not bound to any specific language, you can just feed it whatever commands you'd like and it'll run them for you.
+
+It even pairs nicely with the previous utility, `degit` to help form a rapid-start prototyping area with [project templates](/blog/vite-rapid-prototype-starter-kits/)
+
+## asdf
+
+**Site:** [https://asdf-vm.com/](https://asdf-vm.com/)
+
+It can be tough to make sure that your environments are in sync across projects, versions, and even programming languages. For a while, I was using language-specific version managers (`nvm`, `rvm`, with all the shims that come with it) but Viget introduced me to `asdf` as an all-in-one way to manage all these different languages in a way that didn't have me pulling my hair out.
+
+## btop
+
+**Github:** [https://github.com/aristocratos/btop](https://github.com/aristocratos/btop)
+
+Think Activity Monitor, but way cooler looking and accessible without clicking a bunch of things. `btop` is a pleasing way to see just what is making your computer slow down to a crawl (shakes fist at Docker).
+
+<div class="feature rounded-1 overflow-hidden lh-0">
+<video class="w-full h-auto" autoplay muted loop playsinline>
+      <source src="https://github.com/nathanlong/nathanlong.github.io/assets/623568/15fc78f3-a1d3-4e30-acca-a070f4fea860" type="video/mp4" />
+</video>
+</div>

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+.lh-0 {
+  line-height: 0;
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