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ALIASES

I have a long command to type. Can I make it shorter?

# ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile

alias ll="ls -al"

Now when I run ll in the terminal, it runs ls -al behind the scenes.

How can I apply this to my own worklow?

I often run the same commands:

  • git add .
  • git commit --amend --no-edit

I can use an alias to combine these into one command:

# ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile (same as above example)

alias add-commit='git add . ; git commit --amend --no-edit'

Now, I can add-commit.

Features

  • You can view the defined aliases with alias.
  • You get tab-completion for free.
  • Aliases can be combined. (Aliases can call previously-defined aliases.)

Limitations

Aliases don't accept parameters.

If you want to create a shortcut that can accept parameters, you'll need a Bash function or a script.

How To Use

Aliases can be defined in ~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_profile.

Let's assume you're using ~./bash_profile for this case:

  • Define your alias in: ~/.bash_profile.
  • Save and close ~/.bash_profile.
  • run source ~/.bash_profile in the terminal.

You can use tab-completion once an alias has been defined.

Run alias to list the known aliases. Your new alias should show up in this list.

Run alias <name-of-alias> to get output specific to a certain alias.

Some Useful Aliases I've Defined

Here are some annotated sample aliases from my ~/.bash_profile:

# What branch am I currently on?

alias branch='git branch --show-current'


# Add and commit in one step :)

alias add-commit='git add . ; git commit --amend --no-edit '


# Pushes the latest to staging

alias stage='git push origin -f $( branch ) ; '


# These assume I'm on a branch ready for backports:

alias bp5.0='git checkout -b $(branch)-v5.0-backport upstream/v5.0'
alias bp4.4='git checkout -b $(branch)-v4.4-backport upstream/v4.4'
alias bp4.2='git checkout -b $(branch)-v4.2-backport upstream/v4.2'
alias bp4.0='git checkout -b $(branch)-v4.0-backport upstream/v4.0'

Resources:

Walkthrough / Tutorial:

https://dev.to/ama/a-developer-s-way-of-using-shell-aliases-2ba6

Obligatory SO Post:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7131670/make-a-bash-alias-that-takes-a-parameter

Definitive Reference:

https://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/aliases.html