Stackoverflow from Terminal

Stackoverflow is a very useful website for programmers and software professionals. It basically a question-answer website where we can ask questions about programming and share answers. In this article, we will discuss two methods to access StackOverflow from the terminal.

How2 tool

We can use how2 tool to access StackOverflow from the terminal. It supports natural language queries.

Features of this tool include

  • Natural langue query support
  • Coloured interface
  • Interactive mode (pressing SPACE bar)

To install how2 first download and install node.js . Run the following command to install how2

npm install -g how-2

After the installation, we can use the how2 tool to get StackOverflow answers. Example query

how2 compare strings in python
how2 command line tool

SoCLI tool

SoCLI is a Stackoverflow command-line tool written in python it can be used to search or browse StackOverflow without leaving the terminal.

Features of SoCLI includes

  • Manual Search
  • Interactively browse / interactive mode
  • Coloured interface
  • Question stats view
  • Tag support
  • Can open the page in a browser
  • Can view user profiles

Let’s install SoCLI tool, Python 3.5 or higher is required to run this tool.

sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip
pip install socli

Sample queries

socli for loop in python syntax
socli -t javascript -q window.open

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