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Z shell
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<h2 id="history">History</h2> <p>Paul Falstad wrote the first version of Zsh in 1990<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> while a student at <a href="/facts/Princeton_University/n3EPGHBM">Princeton University</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> The name <i>zsh</i> derives from the name of <a href="/facts/Yale_University/KUdS6jt1">Yale</a> professor Zhong Shao (then a teaching assistant at Princeton University) – Paul Falstad regarded Shao's <a href="/facts/Login_name/zQRzG0KG">login</a>, "zsh", as a good name for a shell.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>Zsh was at first intended to be a subset of <a href="/facts/C_Shell/8XRuIg0K">csh</a> for the <a href="/facts/Amiga/60B3A9of">Amiga</a>, but expanded far beyond that. By the time of the release of version 1.0 in 1990 the aim was to be a cross between ksh and tcsh –a powerful "command and programming language" that is well-designed and logical (like ksh), but also built for humans (like tcsh), with all the neat features like spell checking, login/logout watching and termcap support that were "probably too weird to make it into an AT&T product".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>Zsh is available for <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Windows/bwhAhuSL">Microsoft Windows</a> as part of the <a href="/facts/UnxUtils/CsUBGmUM">UnxUtils</a> collection of <a href="/facts/Native_(computing)/yNez4jAK">native</a> <a href="/facts/Windows_API/RRw4RtTu">Win32</a> <a href="/facts/Porting/7s6tFs8B">ports</a> of common <a href="/facts/GNU/HlAKKBdt">GNU</a> Unix-like utilities.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p><p>In 2019, <a href="/facts/MacOS_Catalina/B2RE5fGd">macOS Catalina</a> adopted Zsh as the default login shell, replacing the <a href="/facts/GPLv2/S75KhLSX">GPLv2</a> licensed version of <a href="/facts/Bash_(Unix_shell)/RrYLtEJT">Bash</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> and when Bash is run interactively on Catalina, a warning is shown by default.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p><p>In 2020, <a href="/facts/Kali_Linux/zYbzlyuW">Kali Linux</a> adopted Zsh as the default shell since its 2020.4 release.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="features">Features</h2> <p>Features include:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <ul><li>Programmable <a href="/facts/Command-line_completion/MFaxnWrl">command-line completion</a> that can help the user type both options and arguments for most used commands, with out-of-the-box support for several hundred commands</li> <li>Sharing of <a href="/facts/Command_history/nnyw8DFc">command history</a> among all running shells</li> <li>Extended <a href="/facts/Glob_(programming)/IIPcqW8o">file globbing</a> allows file specification without needing to run an external program such as <a href="/facts/Find_(Unix)/bg18ASlI">find</a></li> <li>Improved <a href="/facts/Variable_(computer_science)/VoCKtwml">variable</a>/<a href="/facts/Array_data_structure/BKGvF8AM">array</a> handling (non-<a href="/facts/Zero-based_numbering/DITPGFHR">zero-based numbering</a>)</li> <li>Editing of multi-line commands in a single buffer</li> <li><a href="/facts/Spell_checker/Dg3GUjUd">Spelling correction</a> and <a href="/facts/Autofill/LKHU8xtC">autofill</a> of command names (and optionally arguments, assumed to be file names)</li> <li>Various compatibility modes, e.g. Zsh can pretend to be a <a href="/facts/Bourne_shell/wUCh3Qkl">Bourne shell</a> when run as /bin/sh</li> <li>Themeable <a href="/facts/Command-line_interface/R9JpGmXQ">prompts</a>, including the ability to put prompt information on the right side of the screen and have it auto-hide when typing a long command</li> <li>Loadable modules, providing among other things: full <a href="/facts/Transmission_Control_Protocol/WW4sPrt9">TCP</a> and <a href="/facts/Unix_domain_socket/fHCylnmJ">Unix domain socket</a> controls, an <a href="/facts/File_Transfer_Protocol/THuWgzfw">FTP</a> client, and extended math functions.</li> <li>The built-in where command. Works like the which command but shows all locations of the target command in the directories specified in $PATH rather than only the one that will be used.</li> <li>Named directories. This allows the user to set up shortcuts such as ~mydir, which then behave the way ~ and ~user do.</li> <li>Widgets. Both built and implemented by ordinary functions widgets can be bound to hotkeys.</li> <li>Function autoloading. A performance optimization for function that might be pre-loaded and run on demand.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> The intent of loading functions as separate file is also to support function features across different zsh versions.</li></ul> <h2 id="community">Community</h2> <p>A user community website known as "Oh My Zsh" collects third-party plug-ins and themes for the Z shell. As of 2024, their <a href="/facts/GitHub/n1hNCsc3">GitHub</a> repository has over 2300 contributors, over 300 plug-ins, and over 140 themes. It also comes with an auto-update tool that makes it easier to keep installed plug-ins and themes updated.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul> <li>Free and open-source software portal</li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Comparison_of_command_shells/VjrMgygY">Comparison of command shells</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="https://sourceforge.net/projects/zsh/">Z shell</a> on <a href="/facts/SourceForge/lxYAgUAX">SourceForge</a></li> <li><a href="https://ohmyz.sh">Oh My Zsh</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"zsh - a ksh/tcsh-like shell (part 1 of 8)". alt.sources. December 14, 1990. Retrieved September 18, 2012. <a href="https://groups.google.com/group/alt.sources/msg/936c7876941058ed" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/group/alt.sources/msg/936c7876941058ed</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Z-Shell Frequently-Asked Questions". Sourceforge.net. February 15, 2010. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2012. <a href="http://zsh.sourceforge.net/FAQ/zshfaq01.html#l3" target="_blank">http://zsh.sourceforge.net/FAQ/zshfaq01.html#l3</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"The Z-Shell (ZSH) Lovers' Page". Guckes.net. c. 2004. Archived from the original on May 17, 2017. Retrieved October 2, 2012. <a href="http://www.guckes.net/zsh/lover.html" target="_blank">http://www.guckes.net/zsh/lover.html</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Zsh Mailing List Archive". Zsh.org. August 8, 2005. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2012. <a href="http://www.zsh.org/mla/users/2005/msg00951.html" target="_blank">http://www.zsh.org/mla/users/2005/msg00951.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"zsh 1.0 announcement". GitHub. 15 April 2021. <a href="https://github.com/llua/zsh-1.0" target="_blank">https://github.com/llua/zsh-1.0</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Native Win32 ports of some GNU utilities". Archived from the original on 2006-02-09. Retrieved 2020-07-25. <a href="http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Warren, Tom (June 4, 2019). "Apple replaces bash with zsh as the default shell in macOS Catalina". The Verge. Archived from the original on June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 13, 2019. <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/4/18651872/apple-macos-catalina-zsh-bash-shell-replacement-features" target="_blank">https://www.theverge.com/2019/6/4/18651872/apple-macos-catalina-zsh-bash-shell-replacement-features</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Use zsh as the default shell on your Mac - Apple Support". Archived from the original on 2 December 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2019. <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208050" target="_blank">https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208050</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Kali Linux 2020.4 Release (ZSH, Bash, CME, MOTD, AWS, Docs, Win-KeX & Vagrant) | Kali Linux Blog". Kali Linux. Retrieved 2021-03-03. <a href="https://www.kali.org/blog/kali-linux-2020-4-release/" target="_blank">https://www.kali.org/blog/kali-linux-2020-4-release/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Z-Shell Frequently-Asked Questions". zsh.sourceforge.net. Archived from the original on 2021-03-02. Retrieved 2020-03-04. <a href="http://zsh.sourceforge.net/FAQ/zshfaq01.html" target="_blank">http://zsh.sourceforge.net/FAQ/zshfaq01.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Unix power tools (3 ed.). Sebastopol (Calif.): O'Reilly. 2003. ISBN 978-0-596-00330-2. <a href="978-0-596-00330-2" target="_blank">978-0-596-00330-2</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"ohmyzsh Github". GitHub. <a href="https://github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh" target="_blank">https://github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>