在消费类技术中，旧事物又是新事物。(In consumer technology, everything old is new again.)

As products get flashier with more features and shinier buttons, we crave a return to our roots. In food delivery, Amazon Prime Now and Instacart bring back memories of Webvan, the poster child of the dot-com “excess” bubble that filed for bankruptcy in 2001. David’s Disposable, the disposable camera app from YouTube personality David Dobrik, is a nostalgic throwback to the Kodaks and Fujifilms of the ‘90s. Even iOS 14’s homescreen widget functionality is reminiscent of the days of jailbreaking iPhones to create custom themes.

随着产品功能更丰富，按钮更亮丽而更加耀眼，我们渴望回归我们的根源。 在外卖食品方面， Amazon Prime Now和Instacart带回了Webvan的回忆， Webvan是2001年申请破产的互联网泡沫“多余”泡沫的典型代表。YouTube人物David Dobrik的一次性相机应用David's Disposable怀旧回溯到90年代的Kodaks和Fujifilms。 甚至iOS 14的主屏幕小部件功能也让人想起了越狱iPhone以创建自定义主题的日子。

Another growing trend among modern alternatives to legacy products is the comeback of the command line, creating a user interface that’s both powerful and approachable to non-developers.

替代传统产品的现代替代方案中的另一个增长趋势是命令行的回归，它创建了一个功能强大且对非开发人员而言易于使用的用户界面。

A form of low-latency communication, the command line is highly expressive and incredibly efficient. The next-generation command line mixes its simplicity and power of the past with its accessibility of the future, as described below by Superhuman founder Rahul Vora:

命令行是低延迟通信的一种形式，具有很高的表达力和令人难以置信的效率。 下一代命令行将过去的简单性和强大功能与对未来的可访问性相结合，如下超人创始人Rahul Vora所述：

The new command line allows every user to be a power user, mixing decades-old ideas with modern UI patterns. But before going any further, let’s start with a bit of a history lesson:

新的命令行允许每个用户成为高级用户，将数十年的想法与现代UI模式混合在一起。 但是，在进一步介绍之前，让我们从一些历史课程开始：

什么是命令行？ (What is the command line?)

The command-line interface, or CLI, lets you type text commands to perform specific tasks, in contrast to clicking on menus and buttons with a mouse. Because you can control your actions simply by typing (no mouse necessary), many tasks can be automated or otherwise completed more quickly.

与用鼠标单击菜单和按钮相比，命令行界面(或CLI)使您可以键入文本命令来执行特定任务。 由于您只需键入即可控制操作(无需鼠标)，因此许多任务可以自动化或以更快的速度完成。

当然，命令行是高效的，但是非常繁琐。 (The command line is efficient, sure, but it is grindingly tedious.)

It “strips away all ambiguity, lays bare all hidden assumptions, and cruelly punishes laziness and imprecision.” The command line was the status quo until the mid-1980s, when the Macintosh computer was introduced with its Graphical User Interface, or GUI. This was the first time the command line had been so boldly abstracted away (in fact, people freaked out at the WWDC when they heard the news).

它“消除了所有歧义，暴露了所有隐藏的假设，并残酷地惩罚了懒惰和不精确。” 直到1980年代中期，命令行一直是一种现状，当时Macintosh计算机以其图形用户界面或GUI引入。 这是第一次如此大胆地将命令行抽象化(实际上，人们在听到新闻时对WWDC感到震惊)。

Since then, even though the command line continued to exist as the underlying infrastructure — “a sort of brainstem reflex” — of modern computing systems, the GUI became “the dominant mode of consumer-facing personal computing.”

从那时起，即使命令行继续作为现代计算系统的基础结构(“一种脑干反射”)存在，GUI仍然是“面向消费者的个人计算的主要模式”。

The Macintosh OS was a revolution. Without the command line interface, you either talked to the computer with your mouse, or not at all. The market for people using computers suddenly became exponentially larger, because the interface was more accessible to a less technical audience. With the command line abstracted away, anything was possible! How far could we go?

Macintosh OS是一场革命。 如果没有命令行界面，您要么用鼠标与计算机对话，要么根本不对话。 使用计算机的人的市场突然变得成倍增长，因为该接口对于技术水平较低的用户来说更容易访问。 随着命令行的抽象，一切皆有可能！ 我们能走多远？

Clearly, much farther. In 2007, the command line was described as “bell-bottom out-of-fashion” for its unforgiving syntax and hard-to-remember commands. And when Postman came on the scene in 2012/2013, it simplified the ability to make API calls, returning necessary details about behind-the-scenes application information — no command line needed.

显然，更远。 在2007年，该命令行因其难以理解的语法和难以记住的命令而被描述为“过时的过时”。 当邮递员来到现场在2012/2013，它简化使API调用的能力，返回关于幕后的应用程序所必需的信息资料-不需要命令行。

从CLI到GUI的过渡简化了人与计算机之间费力的语言交流，并用视觉上吸引人的昂贵设计界面代替了它。 (The transition from the CLI to the GUI abstracted away the laborious verbal communication between humans and computers and replaced it with visually appealing, expensively designed interfaces.)

“Personal computers are just too hard to use, and it’s not your fault.” — Walt Mossberg’s first column, 1991

“个人计算机太难使用了，这不是你的错。” 沃尔特·莫斯伯格( Walt Mossberg)的第一篇专栏文章，1991年

The introduction of the GUI was so successful during this time because the command line just didn’t seem accessible to non-developers. But GUIs only work well when the number of alternative items or actions is small. The GUI doesn’t scale well — even searching one’s email records is tedious. Perhaps a better way to say this is the internet can’t be navigated just by its visible structure, and we shouldn’t expect it to.

在这段时间里，GUI的引入非常成功，因为非开发人员似乎无法访问命令行。 但是，GUI仅在替代项目或操作数量很少时才能很好地工作。 GUI不能很好地扩展-甚至搜索一个人的电子邮件记录都是很乏味的。 也许这是一个更好的说法，那就是不能仅凭其可见的结构来浏览互联网，我们也不应该期望它如此。

“Standard GUIs, with their drop down menus, check buttons, and tree-lists just cannot compare to the range of options that a text interface gives effortlessly. In just five alphanumeric characters, you can choose one out of 100,000,000 possible sequences. And choosing any one sequence is just as fast as any other sequence (typing five characters takes roughly 1 second). I challenge you to come up with a non text-based interface that can do as well.” — Aza Raskin

“带有其下拉菜单，检查按钮和树形列表的标准GUI无法与文本界面毫不费力地提供的选项范围进行比较。 仅用五个字母数字字符，您就可以从100,000,000个可能的序列中选择一个。 选择任何一个序列与其他序列一样快(键入五个字符大约需要1秒钟)。 我挑战您提出一个非文本界面也可以做到的界面。” —阿扎·拉斯金( Aza Raskin)

Slowly, and then all at once, it seems, the command line made a comeback, assisting with logging, workflows, keyboard shortcuts, and other supporting features. Now, we’ve reached a next-generation milestone: a command line that’s both powerful and approachable; a tool that’s efficient for technical users without the daunting learning curve of decades past. Even further, we’re seeing companies capitalize on this infatuation with speed and efficiency: just think of Superhuman, which markets itself as “the fastest email experience ever made.”

命令行似乎慢慢地恢复了正常运行，然后又一次恢复运行，从而协助日志记录，工作流，键盘快捷键和其他支持功能。 现在，我们已经达到了一个下一代的里程碑：既强大又平易近人的命令行； 一种对技术用户有效的工具，而无需经历数十年的艰巨学习过程。 更进一步，我们看到公司Swift而有效地利用这种痴迷：想想Superhuman ，它把自己称为“有史以来最快的电子邮件体验”。

Superhuman, a cult-favorite and modern alternative to Gmail, has an entire command line of its own, activated by pressing Command + K. The app navigation is designed such that your movements are naturally fast. You’re forced by design to use the keyboard, as opposed to a mouse or trackpad. Once you break through Superhuman’s learning curve, you become a power user. It’s a feeling you couldn’t possibly get from Gmail or Outlook, and it’s addicting.

超人(Superhuman)是Gmail最受欢迎和现代的替代品，它具有自己的完整命令行，可以通过按Command + K激活。该应用程序导航的设计使您的移动自然快速。 设计使您不得不使用键盘，而不是鼠标或触控板。 一旦突破了超人的学习曲线，您便成为了超级用户。 这是您可能无法从Gmail或Outlook中获得的一种感觉，而且令人上瘾。

But Superhuman is only one example of the return to the CLI. Perhaps most notably, we can look to Stripe, which made an announcement in November 2019 about the release of their own command line interface. Others include:

但是超人只是返回CLI的一个例子。 也许最值得注意的是，我们可以看一下Stripe ，它在2019年11月发布了有关发布自己的命令行界面的公告。 其他包括：

• Linear, a bug tracking tool and modern alternative to Jira

  线性，错误跟踪工具和Jira的现代替代品

• Command E, keyboard shortcuts to search and open any document

  命令E ，用于搜索和打开任何文档的键盘快捷键

• Notion and Slack, which put their core tools behind a slash (/) menu

  Notion和Slack ，将其核心工具放在斜杠(/)菜单后面

• Amie, the joyful productivity app

  快乐的生产力应用程序Amie

• CommandDot, a “blazingly fast” scheduling tool inside your inbox

  CommandDot ，收件箱中的“快速”调度工具

• Height, a collaboration tool for product teams with adaptive workflows

  Height ，这是用于具有自适应工作流程的产品团队的协作工具

• Quill, professional messaging for groups and teams

  鹅毛笔，团体和团队的专业信息

• Clew, a unified file system for all work apps

  Clew ，适用于所有工作应用程序的统一文件系统

• Slapdash, which brings your apps together under one Command Bar

  Slapdash ，将您的应用程序集中在一个命令栏下

• Akiflow, which adds a command line for all your web apps

  Akiflow ，为您的所有Web应用程序添加命令行

[Note: This list could go on and on. For a more complete list, I recommend checking out Chris Messina’s #Launchers collection on Product Hunt.]

[注意：此列表可能会一直存在。 要获得更完整的列表，我建议在Product Hunt上查看Chris Messina的#Launchers系列。]

Brianne Kimmel of Worklife VC has called this emerging pattern “the consumerization of the command line,” while others have referred to it as “⌘K as a service.” At its core, the UI pattern of the command line is fast, learnable, and empowering, making even non-developers feel like next-generation hackers.

Worklife VC的Brianne Kimmel将这种新兴模式称为“命令行的消费化”，而其他人则将其称为““ K即服务” 。 命令行的UI模式从本质上讲是快速，易学且授权的，甚至使非开发人员也感觉像是下一代黑客。

“We’re all starting to think — and work — like developers.” — David Ulevitch

“我们都开始像开发人员一样思考和工作。” —大卫·乌列维奇( David Ulevitch)

In the best of breed products, design decisions are tied intimately to the strategy of the goals of the business. It’s clear in examples like Superhuman: because the main selling point is speed, Superhuman forces their users to act as fast as possible, so they can consistently deliver on their selling point.

在最好的产品中，设计决策与业务目标的策略紧密相关。 在“超人”这样的示例中很明显：因为主要卖点是速度，所以超人迫使用户尽快采取行动，因此他们可以始终如一地交付自己的卖点。

我们正处于消费者技术成熟度的转折点。 (We’re at an inflection point in consumer technical sophistication.)

The market for technical knowledge workers is bigger now than ever before. The companies that acknowledge — and lean into— this shift will not only serve this market, but act as leaders in the growing trend towards the emphasis on product power and efficiency.

现在，技术知识工作者的市场比以往任何时候都大。 承认并倾向于这种转变的公司不仅将服务于这个市场，而且将成为在强调产品功率和效率的日益增长的趋势中的领导者。

If you have any thoughts on the command line comeback, or if you’re building something in the space, be sure to let me know.

如果您对命令行恢复有任何想法，或者在空间中构建某些东西，请务必让我知道。

Want to learn more about this topic? Check out these related readings:

想更多地了解这个话题？ 查看以下相关阅读：

• In the Beginning was the Command Line

  最初是命令行

• CLUI: Building a Graphical Command Line

  CLUI：构建图形命令行

• Learning From Terminals to Design the Future of User Interfaces

  向终端学习以设计用户界面的未来

• How Peach’s Most Interesting Feature, the Hybrid Command Line, Is Becoming Mainstream Again

  桃子最有趣的功能(混合命令行)如何再次成为主流

• Without a GUI — How to Live Entirely in a Terminal

  没有GUI —如何在终端中完全生活

• The History of Command Palettes: How Typing Commands Became The Norm Again

  命令面板的历史：键入命令如何再次成为规范