Easy Command Cookbook: 25 One‑Line Tricks You Need to Know

A concise, practical collection of 25 single-line command snippets for common tasks in Unix-like shells (bash, zsh, fish) and Windows PowerShell. Focused on productivity, troubleshooting, file and text manipulation, networking checks, and quick system info. Each entry includes the command, a one-line explanation, and a short example of common options or variations.

Sample sections and representative commands

File management

Find and delete empty directories:

Code
find . -type d -empty -delete

Move files by extension into a folder:

Code
mkdir -p images && mv.jpg images/

Text processing

Show non‑printable characters:
```
Code
sed -n l file.txt 
```

Print unique sorted lines with counts:

Code
sort file.txt | uniq -c | sort -nr

Searching & pattern matching
- Recursive grep with line numbers and color:
```
Code
grep -RIn –color=auto “pattern” . 
```
Networking & troubleshooting
- Quick HTTP check using curl:
```
Code
curl -I https://example.com
```
- List open ports (Linux):
```
Code
ss -tuln 
```

System info & monitoring

Show top memory consumers:

Code
ps aux –sort=-%mem | head -n 15

Disk usage of current directory:
```
Code
du -sh . 
```

Archiving & compression
- Create a gzipped tar archive:
```
Code
tar czf archive.tar.gz folder/ 
```
Git & development
- Amend last commit message without changing contents:
```
Code
git commit –amend -m “New message” 
```

Windows PowerShell equivalents

List processes sorted by memory:

Code
Get-Process | Sort-Object -Property WS -Descending | Select-Object -First 10

Why this cookbook helps

Saves time with ready-to-run snippets.
Teaches small, composable patterns you can adapt.
Useful for beginners and experienced users who want quick reminders.

How to use it

Copy the one-liners into your terminal; try them in a safe directory first.
Read the short explanation before running commands that modify files.
Combine snippets to build longer workflows.

Easy Command Cookbook: 25 One‑Line Tricks You Need to Know