What's wrong with Windows Command Prompt (was Re: Error Testing)

[Tim Chase]

On 2013-10-21 15:55, David Robinow wrote:
> I wasn't aware that the interactive interpreter on Linux had
> features that the Windows version didn't. I'm curious what those
> features might be.

It's mostly the benefits that come from being built with the readline
library, meaning you get

- command history (Win32 offers this, the rest not AFAIK)

- command-history searchability (control+R)

- the ability to pull down things from previous lines (alt+period in
  particular)

- the ability to comment out the currently typed command without
  executing it (alt+octothorpe)

- the ability to prefix text/commands with a count
  (alt+number_of_times followed by the character/command)

- the ability to insert matching filenames (alt+asterisk after typing
  path relative to the $CWD)

- clearing to the start/end of line (control+U/control+K)

- the ability to paste content (control+Y) previously-cut by ^U/^K

- the ability to transpose adjacent words (alt+T)

- the ability to jump forward/backward to a specified character
  (control+] and control+alt+] followed by the target char) like f/F
  in vi/vim

Those are just a subset of the power offered by readline when built
into Python's interpreter, none of which work (other than that first
one) on Win32's cmd.exe (or, I suppose command.com).

-tkc