Building Python CLI Apps with Click

This is a practical, example heavy, course on building Python based Command Line Interface (CLI) applications and utility programs. Such CLI programs are powerful tools used to automate a wide range of simple to complex tasks which frees users from repetitive mundane activities ultimately increasing productivity along with quality of work. The Click library featured in this course empowers Python software developers with the ability to build rich CLI tools while requiring significantly less code than what’s possible with the regular Python standard library or other programming languages.

After participating in this course viewers should have a strong grasp of building CLI programs that work with all common argument and parameter options types like string, numbers, flags and I/O sources. Students will also learn to collect user input in the form of plain text and hidden (aka masked) input prompts, compose nested programs with sub commands. To facilitate high quality software development practices emphasis is also placed on how to write automated tests with your CLI applications harnessing some very useful features of the Click library that simplify writing tests.

Below is a list of the topics that are covered in this course.

• Setup and Install of Click CLI Applications

• Single and Multiple Argument Programs

• Using Options to Control CLI Program Behavior

• Collecting User Input in the form of Prompts

• Composing Nested Programs with Subcommands

• Passing Shared Context Between Nested Commands

• Implementing Progress Bars to Convey Work Completed

• Styling CLI Program Output with Colored Text

• Testing CLI Programs to Ensure Quality