Command processor - Revision history

Jnc: Avoid redir

2022-10-11T20:40:56Z

Avoid redir

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2018-12-16T21:26:12Z

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2018-10-18T14:41:30Z

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2018-06-26T14:27:41Z

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Usually typed input

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2017-11-17T14:01:35Z

Add some hisroy, a 'further eading'

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2017-11-17T13:46:24Z

An OK start

New page

A '''command processor''' (or '''command line interpreter''') is a [[program]] to which a [[user]] of a computer gives commands, which the command processor [[parser|parses]], and then takes the appropriate action to make happen.

That appropriate action may be something performed internally to the command processor, or the command processor may load another program (e.g. a [[compiler]]), or it may cause the creation of a whole new [[process]] which is then set to execute some program.

Originally, all input to the command processor was typed by the user on a [[serial line]] terminal; with the advent of the [[mouse]], and the graphical interface, the user may instead click on an [[icon]].

The most well-known command interpreter at this point is the '''shell''' of [[UNIX]], which is based on the similar program of the [[Multics]] [[operating system]].

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 ==History==
-In early [[operating system]]s, such as [[CTSS]] and [[TOPS-10]], the command processor was built into the OS itself. It soon became apparent (from experience on CTSS) that it could and should be a separate program, run in the user's top-level process, and [[Multics]] took this approach. Other [[time-sharing]] systems (such as [[TENEX]] and [[Incompatible Time-sharing System|ITS]]) followed this example.
+In early [[operating system]]s, such as [[CTSS]] and [[TOPS-10]], the command processor was built into the OS itself. It soon became apparent (from experience on CTSS) that it could and should be a separate program, run in the user's top-level process, and [[Multics]] took this approach. Other [[time-sharing]] systems (such as [[TENEX]] and [[Incompatible Timesharing System|ITS]]) followed this example.
 Even early [[personal computer]] operating systems such as [[MS-DOS]] made the command interpreter a separate program, although they did not provide processes.

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	* Neal Stephenson, ''In the Beginning ... was the Command Line'', Avon, New York, 1999		* Neal Stephenson, ''In the Beginning ... was the Command Line'', Avon, New York, 1999

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 Even early [[personal computer]] operating systems such as [[MS-DOS]] made the command interpreter a separate program, although they did not provide processes.
-Originally, all input to the command processor was typed by the user on a [[serial line]] terminal; with the advent of the [[mouse]], and the [[graphical user interface]], the user may instead click on an [[icon]].
+Originally, all input to the command processor was typed by the user on an [[asynchronous serial line]] terminal; with the advent of the [[mouse]], and the [[graphical user interface]], the user may instead click on an [[icon]].
 The most well-known command interpreter at this point is the '''shell''' of [[UNIX]], which is also based on the similar program of Multics.

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-A '''command processor''' (or '''command line interpreter''') is a [[program]] to which a [[user]] of a computer gives commands, which the command processor [[parser|parses]], and then takes the appropriate action to make happen.
+A '''command processor''' (or '''command line interpreter''') is a [[program]] to which a [[user]] of a computer gives commands, usually by typing strings of [[character]]s, which the command processor [[parser|parses]], and then takes the appropriate action to make happen.
 That appropriate action may be something performed internally to the command processor, or the command processor may load another program (e.g. a [[compiler]]), or it may cause the creation of a whole new [[process]] which is then set to execute some program.
@@ Line 9: / Line 9: @@
 Even early [[personal computer]] operating systems such as [[MS-DOS]] made the command interpreter a separate program, although they did not provide processes.
-Originally, all input to the command processor was typed by the user on a [[serial line]] terminal; with the advent of the [[mouse]], and the graphical interface, the user may instead click on an [[icon]].
+Originally, all input to the command processor was typed by the user on a [[serial line]] terminal; with the advent of the [[mouse]], and the [[graphical user interface]], the user may instead click on an [[icon]].
 The most well-known command interpreter at this point is the '''shell''' of [[UNIX]], which is also based on the similar program of Multics.