Cicada Unix Shell

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Cicada is a simple Unix shell written in Rust. It's ready for daily use.

Documents

Features

run programs and pipelines

``` $ ls | head -n3 Desktop Documents Downloads

$ echo foo bar | awk -F " " '{print $2, $1}' bar foo ```

with redirections

$ ls file-not-exist 2>&1 | wc > e.txt $ cat e.txt 1 7 46

command substitution

$ ls -l `which sh` -r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 630464 Mar 23 07:57 /bin/sh

run multiple commands (with logical)

``` $ echo foo; echo bar foo bar

$ echo foo && echo bar foo bar

$ echo foo || echo bar foo ```

shell expansions

``` $ echo sp{el,il,al}l spell spill spall

$ echo $SHELL /usr/local/bin/cicada

$ echo * Cargo.lock Cargo.toml LICENSE Makefile README.md src target ```

do math arithmetic directly in the shell!

$ 1 + 2 * 3 - 4 3 $ (1 + 2) * (3 - 4) / 8.0 -0.375

Install Cicada

Install via Pre-built Binaries

First download the latest right binary for your system from Release Page.

Move it to right place and add runable permisson:

```

on Mac

$ mv cicada-mac-v0.6.5 /usr/local/bin/cicada

on Linux

$ mv cicada-linux64-v0.6.5 /usr/local/bin/cicada

$ chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cicada ```

Then you can try it by run cicada in your shell.

Install Cicada via Source

Note: Rust environment is needed for installation.

You can try cicada out without installing it by checking out the repository and run cargo run in its root directory.

$ git clone https://github.com/mitnk/cicada $ cd cicada $ cargo run

install from code repository

If you've checked out the cicada repository, you can do this:

$ make install

This will install cicada under your /usr/local/bin. Use sudo if needed.

install via cargo crates

$ cargo install -f cicada

This will install cicada into ~/.cargo/bin/.

Set cicada as your login shell

Appending /usr/local/bin/cicada into your /etc/shells, then run $ chsh -s /usr/local/bin/cicada

Cicada is also a library

Read APIs here: https://docs.rs/cicada/0.7.2/cicada/

FAQs

Why another shell?

I think it's fair to say cicada is just a toy.

Compare to bash?

Bash is where most people come from and familiar with. So cicada is trying to support common cases that bash supports. Cicada will only be a "subset" of bash. If bash is a steamship, cicada is just a boat.

Compare to ion?

Ion is a modern system shell that is also written in Rust. It's more mature as a general shell. Ion is to Rust what xonsh to Python, which supports following stuff: $ let string = "one two three" $ echo $string[0] o $ echo $string[..3] one While cicada do not and will not support these features.

Why functions support is in won't do list?

I don't think i have interests or energy to add (bash) functions support or (bash) shell scripting ability. If you're a heavy function/scripting user, cicada may not be your tool. If you found cicada useful, you can always add your things based on it.

As far as I can see, cicada will not introduce such complex things, and will not be another zsh/fish.

Will cicada be POSIX-compatible?

As the above anwsers hints, while cicada is trying to be POSIX, but it will not be a fully POSIX shell. However, If any command pattern is common and cicada is missing, we can add it.

Will my bash/zsh scripts continue work in cicada?

It depends. If the script is only doing external things, like an configure/installation script, you can still run it. You can invoke scripts with $ ./my-script.sh as long as it have "#!/bin/bash" stuff on the top. Or you can always run them as: $ bash my-script.sh.

Cicada does not recognize these scripts itself. You cannot integrate these shell scripts/functions in RC files to initiate cicada shell.

Windows support?

Cicada is a Unix shell.

To do list

Won't do list