List of command-line interpreters

This list includes notable command-line interpreters – programs that interactively interpret commands entered by the user at the command-line.

Operating system shells

Most operating systems are accessible via a shell – a command line interpreter. In some cases multiple shells are available.

This category somewhat overlaps with the general programming section since an operating system shell supports programming, and the line between operating system access and general programming is sometimes less than clear. For example, some versions of BASIC served as a shell, and BASIC is also a general-purpose language.

Unix-like

Almquist shell (ash)
Bash (Unix shell) bash
Bourne shell sh
C shell csh
Ch shell ch
Debian Almquist shell (dash)
Emacs shell eshell
Friendly interactive shell fish
KornShell ksh
PowerShell pwsh
rc shell rc, a shell for Plan 9 from Bell Labs and Unix
Stand-alone shell sash
Scheme Shell scsh
TENEX C shell tcsh
Z shell zsh

Windows

COMMAND.COM, default shell in Windows 9x, available in 32-bit NT-based Windows via NTVDM
cmd.exe, successor of COMMAND.COM in OS/2 and Windows NT systems, a.k.a. Command Prompt
Recovery Console
PowerShell, successor of Command Prompt; more like Unix-based shells; based on .NET
Hamilton C shell, a clone of the C shell
Take Command Console (4NT), a clone of cmd.exe with added features

DOS

COMMAND.COM, the default command-line interpreter
4DOS, a compatible, but more advanced shell
NDOS, provided with some versions of Norton Utilities
GW-BASIC

OS/2

CMD.EXE, the default command-line interpreter
Hamilton C shell, a clone of the Unix C shell
4OS2, a clone of CMD.EXE with additional features

Apple

CP/M

Console Command Processor (CCP), the default command line interpreter
ZCPR for the Z-System

IBM i

Network routers

Cisco IOS^[1]
Junos (Juniper Networks)^[2]

Other

Atari TOS shell
BASIC-PLUS (RSTS/E)
CANDE MCS – command-line shell and text editor on the MCP operating system
Conversational Monitor System (VM/CMS)
Data General RDOS and AOS CLI
DIGITAL Command Language (DCL)
DOS Wedge – (Commodore 64)
DIGITAL Command Language (OpenVMS)
EFI-SHELL
Microsoft BASIC
Singularity (operating system)
SymShell
Tandem Application Control Language (TACL)
Time Sharing Option (MVS, z/OS)
YouOS shell

General-purpose programming

APL
BASIC
BeanShell – shell for Java
JavaScript shell – several programs by this name, including JavaScript Interpreter Shell, allow interactive JavaScript^[3]
Common Lisp Interface Manager – for Lisp
F#
Haskell
Interactive Ruby Shell – for Ruby
IPython – for Python
J
Julia
Jython
Macintosh Programmer's Workshop, for Classic Mac OS
Perl
PHPsh – shell for PHP
Prolog
REBOL
Red
REXX
Scala
Smalltalk
Standard ML
Tclsh – for Tcl
tkcon shell and IDE for Tcl/Tk
Windows Script Host
Wish (Windowing Shell) – forTcl

Software debugging

DEBUG
gdb
DDT, a PDP-10 debugger from DEC used as a command shell for the MIT Incompatible Timesharing System
Firebug/Chromebug, a JavaScript shell and debugging environment as a Firefox plugin

Database development

sqsh, a shell available with some SQL implementations for database queries and other tasks.
Google Shell, a browser-based front-end for Google Search

Scientific and engineering software

References

[1] "The Cisco IOS command-line interface (CLI) is the primary user interface..."

[2] "...the software that you use whenever you access the router..."

[3] veloper.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript_shells Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine; Comparison of Server-side JavaScript solutions

[1]

[2]

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