What is a terminal?
The terminal is a text-based window where you type commands to your computer instead of clicking buttons.
The terminal is a small app where you talk to your computer in writing. Instead of clicking through folders, you type a command and press enter. The output appears as more text on the same screen. It looks intimidating at first, but it is one of the most powerful tools you will ever learn, because you can do in one line what would take a dozen clicks in the file manager.
Most professional development happens through the terminal. You use it to install software, run your project, talk to Git, and start AI coding tools like Claude Code or Codex. You only need to remember a handful of commands at first, and the AI itself is happy to suggest the rest.
On macOS the built-in app is called Terminal. On Windows the modern one is Windows Terminal. Both do the same job. Once you are comfortable with a few commands, the keyboard starts to feel faster than the mouse.
Example
cd ~/Projects/my-app # change into a folder ls # list what is inside npm run dev # start the project
Related terms
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