Useful Shell Functions for Developers

A well-crafted shell function can be a game changer for developer productivity. These functions streamline repetitive tasks directly in the terminal, avoiding context switches and speeding up common workflows.

I recently introduced a few of these functions to my setup, and they’ve been invaluable. Here’s a rundown of each one, with descriptions of the tools you’ll need and how each function fits into a developer’s workflow.

Tools You’ll Need

• fzf: Fuzzy finder for quick file and string searches.
• rg: A fast, versatile text search tool.
• git and gh: For version control and GitHub interactions.
• delta: A syntax-highlighting pager for diffs.
• vim / neovim (recommended): A highly configurable text editor.

If you prefer a video, check out: Useful Shell Functions for Developers on Youtube

grep_open (alias: vg)

Shows all files in a fzf list that contain a particular search term, and opens the selected file in your default editor. If you’re using vim or neovim, it even searches for the term within the file.

grep_open() {
    local editor="$EDITOR"
    if [ "$EDITOR" = "vim" ] || [ "$EDITOR" = "nvim" ]; then
        local editor="$EDITOR +/$1 +'norm! n'"
    fi
    rg -l "$1" | fzf --bind "enter:execute($editor + {})"
}

Use cases: Quickly find and edit code snippets, locate references across a codebase.

review_changes (alias: vr)

Displays a list of files changed in the current branch compared to a base branch. It uses fzf to show diffs in preview mode and opens selected files in your editor. Defaults to comparing against the main branch if no base branch is specified.

review_changes() {
    local base_branch="${1:-}"

    if [ -z "$base_branch" ]; then
        base_branch=$(git symbolic-ref refs/remotes/origin/HEAD 2>/dev/null | sed 's@^refs/remotes/origin/@@')
        [ -z "$base_branch" ] && base_branch="main"
    fi

    git diff --name-only "$base_branch"...HEAD | fzf \
        --preview "git diff $base_branch...HEAD -- {} | delta --width \$FZF_PREVIEW_COLUMNS" \
        --bind "enter:execute($EDITOR {})"
}

Use cases: Reviewing PRs, comparing code changes across branches.

changed_files (alias: vc)

Lists both staged and unstaged files using git status and previews diffs for each file with delta. Opens selected files in the editor.

changed_files() {
    git status --short | awk '{print $2}' | fzf \
        --preview "git diff --cached -- {} | delta --width \$FZF_PREVIEW_COLUMNS && git diff -- {} | \
        delta --width \$FZF_PREVIEW_COLUMNS && git diff --no-index -- /dev/null {} | delta --width \$FZF_PREVIEW_COLUMNS" \
        --bind "enter:execute($EDITOR {})"
}

Use cases: Reviewing your local changes, preparing files for commit.

pr_diff (alias: ghpd)

Displays the diff of a specified pull request for the current repository, using the GitHub CLI (gh) and delta for syntax highlighting. Pass the PR number as an argument.

pr_diff() {
    gh pr diff "$1" | delta
}

Use cases: Reviewing merged PRs, code comparisons against other branches.

pr_files (alias: ghpf)

Shows a list of files modified in a specified pull request, with fzf for preview and selection. Opens the selected file in your editor.

pr_files() {
    gh pr diff "$1" --name-only | fzf \
        --bind "enter:execute($EDITOR {})"
}

Use cases: Quickly navigate changed files in a PR

binary_edit (alias: vb)

Finds and opens a binary or executable file in the system path with your editor. Useful for quick edits on scripts or symlinked executables. Note: Editing binaries directly can be risky, so use this for shell scripts and other readable executables.

binary_edit() {
    local bin=""
    bin=$(which "$1")
    if [ -z "$bin" ]; then
        echo "Binary not found in path"
        return 1
    fi
    $EDITOR "$bin"
}

Use cases: Editing symlinked shell scripts, quickly modifying executables in the path.

Code Repository

You can find the code for all of these functions and more on functions.sh in dots2k.

If you have any recommendations or questions, feel free to drop a comment or raise an issue on the dots2k repo. Thanks for reading!