>CLI: A Practical Guide to Creating Modern Command-Line Interfaces

by Derick Schaefer

Overview

Once the backbone of early computing, the command-line interface (CLI) nearly disappeared in the shadow of graphical user interfaces. But today, it's experiencing a powerful resurgence—driven by DevOps, automation, cloud-native infrastructure, and the rise of generative AI. While its roots trace back to the 1960s, the CLI has evolved into a modern development essential: fast, scriptable, cross-platform, and precise.

CLIs now play a central role across a broad range of technical domains—from cloud infrastructure orchestration and SaaS automation to cybersecurity workflows and progressive audit controls. These tools are indispensable to ISVs, SaaS providers, DevOps teams, enterprise IT organizations, and security professionals who demand efficiency, scale, and control. In a world where speed and automation define success, mastering CLI design is no longer optional—it's a competitive advantage.

This book is a modern guide to command-line development, written for designers, engineers, architects, and toolmakers building the next generation of CLI applications. It offers clear explanations, battle-tested patterns, and real-world examples written in Go—an ideal language for high-performance, cross-platform development. Readers will also find Spotlights on widely adopted tools like Git®, WP-CLI, and Warp Terminal®—each revealing the design thinking behind some of today's most influential CLI-centric tooling. Additionally, technical programming chapters are supplemented with LLM co-pilot guidance.

Whether you're creating developer tools, enterprise-grade utilities, or modern shell-based automation, this book delivers the insight and guidance to build composable, maintainable, and future-ready CLIs that work the way today's teams and systems demand.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798992608236
Publisher:	OC2 Ventures Publishing
Publication date:	10/05/2025
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Derick Schaefer is a seasoned technology leader, consultant, and software developer with over 30 years of experience spanning engineering and executive leadership. His career began in the early 1990s with exposure to DOS, OS/2, UNIX, and VMS systems—sparking a lifelong interest in command-line interfaces and robust software architecture.

During a decade-long tenure at the Microsoft Corporation, Derick contributed to enterprise infrastructure technologies and authored influential content, including the 1999 white paper Development Considerations for Storage Applications in Windows 2000, which became a key reference for enterprise storage developers.
He later led technical strategy for a large-scale content management platform powered by a thousand Ubuntu Linux instances, where he championed CLI-first tooling and early DevOps practices.

In the years that followed, Derick served as CTO and SVP of Engineering across multiple SaaS and infrastructure companies. Confronting legacy systems written in Smalltalk® and C++, he encouraged teams to adopt Go for its clarity, performance, and maintainability.

In 2024, he began exploring generative AI to boost developer productivity and software quality. This work led to the release of the Go Input Sanitization Library (GoISL) and his first book, Integrating SaaS Acquisitions: A Technical Leader’s M&A Playbook—with this book soon to follow. He continues to consult and write at the intersection of developer experience, software design, and technology leadership.