# Creating Bash Aliases Quickly from the Terminal

This is a quick little tip on how I add aliases to common commands for use in bash or zsh shells.

Table of Contents

# The .aliases file and its contents

Create this file, I put it in my home aka ~/ directory, then add source ~/.aliases to your shell config files (.bashrc or .zshrc). Remember to source your shell config or restart your terminal so you're able to use the alias functions.

# ~/.aliases

alias_file=~/.aliases
alias last_alias="tail -n 1 $alias_file"

create_alias() {
	echo alias $1=\"$2\" >> $alias_file
	source $alias_file
	last_alias
}

delete_last_alias() {
	sed -i '$ d' $alias_file
	source $alias_file
	last_alias
}

# Aliases

# create_alias

Running this function in your shell will now append your new alias to the end of your ~/.aliases file, source that file, then echo back the last line so you can make sure syntax is correct.

create_alias alias_name "echo What we're aliasing"

# last_alias

Running this alias in your shell will echo back the last line of your ~/.aliases file so you can check the last alias added.

last_alias

# delete_last_alias

Running this function in your shell will delete the last line of your ~/.aliases file, source that file, then echo back the last line so you can decide whether you want to delete that alias too.

delete_last_alias

# Watch it in action