Kids these days, with their Ruby on Rails and their JavaScript. When your dad was coming up, programming was something you did with punchcards and a suit and tie. And when I was coming up, getting schooled by cranky goths on my first Linux box, programming was something you did from the command line.

Learn-to-code company Treehouse is getting back to basics with a command line course that will restore any amount of nerd cred you may have lost and school you to code from the console like a true neckbeard (or honorary neckbeard, for those without the hormones to grow a truly lush face-mane).

“You may come across a tool that has only a command line interface, or you may need to access a server using the console and SSH,” writes Treehouse instructor Jim Hoskins today on the company blog. “Console Foundations is here to familiarize you with the power of the console.”

The coursework will include high-quality, professional-grade video instruction (as is Treehouse’s specialty). But the gang also cooked up something unique to get devs comfortable with coding on Linux terminals.

“So what if you don’t have a Linux computer to follow along on?” Hoskins continues. “Worry not. For you, we built the Treehouse Command Line, a console you can use right from your web browser that gives you access to your own Linux computer that you can safely learn and experiment with.”

And since Treehouse Command Line is an entirely separate computing entity, you don’t have to worry about accidentally wiping your hard drive or destroying files your computer needs to operate or what have you.

Here’s a peek at the Treehouse Command Line and other instructional materials from the course:

Treehouse also teaches a slew of other topics — such as HTML basics, PHP, WordPress programming, web design and business fundamentals for startups and mobile development for would-be app billionaires.

It also recently announced it was piloting a program to bring its unique tools into high schools in order to help underserved kids have a better shot at getting better jobs after graduation.

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