Elvish

Elvish

Elvish is an expressive, friendly and open shell and scripting language for Linux/UNIX. It combines the convenience of interactive shells with the programmability of scripting languages. Elvish supports handy features like pathname expansion, pipelines, redirections and variables
Elvish image
shell scripting linux unix

Elvish: Expressive Shell and Scripting Language for Linux/UNIX

Elvish is an expressive, friendly and open shell and scripting language for Linux/UNIX. It combines the convenience of interactive shells with the programmability of scripting languages. Elvish supports handy features like pathname expansion, pipelines, redirections and variables.

What is Elvish?

Elvish is an open source shell and scripting language for Linux/UNIX systems. It aims to combine the interactivity and convenience of shells like bash or zsh with the rich features and programmability of scripting languages like Python or Ruby.

Some key features of Elvish include:

  • Expressive pipeline syntax for composability and readability
  • Rich data types like lists, maps, tuples built into the language
  • Structured data and semantic highlighting for productivity
  • Friendly interactive features like completions and hints
  • Powerful Unix capabilities like wildcards, redirections, virtualenv support
  • Easy scriptability with functions, exceptions, namespaces and more

By combining an interactive shell with a powerful scripting language, Elvish allows both interactive exploration and automation of tasks. It can be used for daily system administration, DevOps pipelines, batch data processing and more. Its clean, expressive syntax also makes Elvish scripts easy to read and maintain.

Elvish runs on most Linux and UNIX-based systems like FreeBSD and macOS. It aims to be a friendly, open and community-driven project for modern shell scripting and task automation.

Elvish Features

Features

  1. Expressive shell syntax
  2. Friendly interactive interface
  3. Scripting capabilities
  4. Pathname expansion
  5. Pipelines
  6. Redirections
  7. Variables

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

More expressive than Bash

Friendlier than Zsh

Open source with an MIT license

Cons

Less widespread adoption than Bash or Zsh

Fewer plugins and extensions available


The Best Elvish Alternatives

Top Development and Scripting Languages and other similar apps like Elvish


PowerShell icon

PowerShell

PowerShell is a cross-platform task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and an associated scripting language. It provides comprehensive control and automation capabilities for Windows administrators and power users.Key features and capabilities of PowerShell include:Powerful scripting language integrated with the .NET Framework.Ability to access...
PowerShell image
Zsh icon

Zsh

Zsh (Z shell) is an extended version of the Bash shell for UNIX systems. It is highly customizable and includes many features aimed at interactive use, such as:Powerful themed auto-suggestions, completion, and correction while typing commandsSupport for directories and path expansion (globbing) with complex patternsSharing of command history across shellsLoadable...
Zsh image
KornShell icon

KornShell

KornShell (ksh) is a Unix shell and command language written by David Korn in the early 1980s. It is backward-compatible with the Bourne shell and includes many additional features from the Bash and C shells.Some key features of KornShell include:Interactive scripting and debuggingJob controlCommand history and editingAlias and function definitionsString...
Win-bash icon

Win-bash

Win-bash is an open-source command line interface and Linux environment for Windows. It provides a Bash shell and Linux-like tools and utilities to allow users to run Linux/UNIX commands natively on Windows.Key features of win-bash include:Bash shell and common Bash commandsCore Linux utilities like sed, awk, grep, etc.Standard UNIX/Linux file...
Win-bash image
GNU Bourne Again SHell icon

GNU Bourne Again SHell

GNU Bash (Bourne Again SHell) is a widely used command line shell and command language interpreter for Unix-like operating systems such as Linux and macOS. It is the default login shell for most Linux distributions and macOS. Bash provides powerful text processing capabilities using an extensible syntax for command composition...
GNU Bourne Again SHell image
Nu Shell icon

Nu Shell

Nu Shell (also called Nushell or Nu) is an open source command shell and scripting language created by GitHub co-founder Jonathon Turner and released under the MIT license. It focuses on improving the command-line interface and workflow compared to traditional Unix shells like Bash or Zsh.Key features and goals of...
Nu Shell image
DASH Shell icon

DASH Shell

DASH Shell is an open-source Linux shell and command language that emphasizes automation, customization, and productivity. It was created by Software Engineer João Dias and includes many quality-of-life features and improvements over other popular shells like Bash or Zsh.Some key features of DASH include:Intelligent autocompletion that learns from your usage...
The xonsh shell icon

The xonsh shell

The xonsh shell is a unique hybrid shell that combines features from Python as well as bash, zsh, and other traditional Unix shells. It works on Linux, Mac, and Windows systems.Some key features of xonsh include:Python powered - xonsh allows you to combine Python code inline with shell commands for...
The xonsh shell image
Ergonomica icon

Ergonomica

Ergonomica is a dynamic tiling window manager designed for Linux operating systems. It automatically tiles open application windows to optimize screen usage without manual configuration.Unlike traditional window managers that are mouse-oriented, Ergonomica utilizes keyboard shortcuts so that users can efficiently manage windows and workspaces. Its innovative dynamic tiling algorithm analyzes...
Ergonomica image
Rc - a shell icon

Rc - a shell

rc is a command line shell and scripting language developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Tom Duff as an alternative to the Bourne shell. Some key features and characteristics of rc:Simple and easy to use syntax, influenced by Plan 9's shellModular design allowing extensions through pluginsLightweight and...
Fshell icon

Fshell

fshell is an open-source file manager and command line interface tool for Linux systems. It provides an interactive shell for carrying out various file management tasks like copying, moving, deleting, archiving, searching for files and directories, and more.Some of the key features of fshell include:Intuitive syntax for common file operations...
Fshell image
Xiki icon

Xiki

Xiki is a revolutionary command line interface and shell alternative for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It provides a new paradigm for interacting with structured data that is simpler and more flexible than traditional shells or GUIs.The core concept behind Xiki is the idea of 'place-oriented computing'. Instead of operating on...
Xiki image
OverOS icon

OverOS

OverOS is an open-source, Linux-based operating system developed by a non-profit organization called the Over Foundation. It is designed to provide strong privacy protections, security features, and extensive customization options for advanced users.Some key features of OverOS include:Built-in end-to-end encryption for communications like email and messagingAdvanced firewall and malware protection...
OverOS image
Eltclsh icon

Eltclsh

eltclsh is an open source Linux shell and scripting language that focuses on security, automation, and devops capabilities. It builds on top of bash and aims to improve upon it in several key areas:Enhanced security features such as built-in sandboxing, authentication, and access controls.IDE features for rapid script development including...
Eltclsh image