Syllabus

Text-Fu Interactive Lessons

1stdout (Standard Out)Learn how standard output flows to the terminal and how Bash redirects it to files.
2stdin (Standard In)Learn how programs read standard input and how Bash connects that stream to a file.
3stderr (Standard Error)Learn how to redirect standard error separately or combine it with standard output in Bash.
4pipe and teeLearn how pipelines connect commands and how tee saves a stream while passing it onward.
5env (Environment)Learn how Bash expands, exports, inspects, and temporarily overrides environment variables.
6cutLearn how to select character positions or delimited fields from each line with cut.
7pasteLearn how to merge corresponding lines or serialize lines with configurable delimiters using paste.
8headLearn how to display a controlled number of lines or bytes from the beginning of input.
9tailLearn how to view the end of input and follow files as new content is appended.
10expand and unexpandLearn how tab stops control conversion between tabs and spaces with expand and unexpand.
11join and splitLearn how to join two sorted text files by a key and split one file into named pieces.
12sortLearn how to order text lines by lexical, numeric, or selected field values with sort.
13tr (Translate)Learn how to translate, delete, and squeeze character sets in a standard input stream.
14uniq (Unique)Learn how to collapse, count, or filter adjacent groups of equal lines with uniq.
15wc and nlLearn how to count lines, words, bytes, or characters with wc and number lines with nl.
16grepLearn how to select lines with fixed strings or regular expressions and interpret grep results.

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Before you begin

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in Text-Fu?

You will learn to search, filter, transform, combine, and redirect text with tools such as grep, cut, sort, uniq, tr, head, tail, and tee.

Should I complete the Command Line course first?

Yes. Familiarity with files, directories, and basic shell commands will make the text-processing examples easier to understand.

Why are pipes and redirection important?

They let you connect small commands into repeatable workflows, control input and output, and process data without opening a graphical editor.

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