Shells

A shell is the user experience around a program or script.

To the everyday individual, all they will ever see and interact with will be the shell.

We’re all used to working with at least two types of shells, though we might not call them something so geeky.

Graphical Shells

• Browsers are shells around the data we get from the internet.
• Operating systems are graphical shells that cover the innards of our computers, tablets, and phones.

Both of these shells are designed to protect and attract, much as the shells of an organism might (though your level attraction may vary from crustacean to crustacean).

Terminals

Terminals are not meant to protect or attract, though you can secure them or make them attractive.

Terminals are meant to be very thin shells atop whatever you run within them.

PowerShell is both a scripting language and a shell.

This lovable, verb-noun oriented scripting language is the source of the shell’s power. The Shell is what you see.