Best Bash Alternative: How Xonsh Can Replace Bash Combining The Power Of Python With Bash

Mark Caggiano
6 min readApr 30, 2023

Introduction

Xonsh is a Python-powered shell that combines the power of Python with the convenience of a traditional shell. Xonsh provides a shell syntax for invoking commands, but it also allows you to use Python syntax to access variables, functions, and modules. Xonsh has many features that make it more powerful and flexible than Bash, including tab completion, history search, and the ability to easily manipulate and process data with Python.

Why Xonsh is better than Bash:

  1. Python Integration: Xonsh integrates Python seamlessly into the shell environment, which means you can use Python syntax to access variables, functions, and modules from the shell. This makes it easier to manipulate and process data using Python libraries and functions.
  2. Tab Completion: Xonsh provides advanced tab completion that is more powerful than Bash’s completion. Xonsh can complete command names, file names, Python variables and functions, and even module names.
  3. History Search: Xonsh allows you to search your command history using the Up and Down arrow keys. You can also use a fuzzy search to find commands based on keywords.
  4. Cross-platform: Xonsh works on Windows, Linux, and macOS…

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