What (precisely) is a command?

Question

Which of the following is most appropriately called a "command," and what should the other be called?

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 02 '14 at 15:09

2

The command is changeDirectoryTo. /home/peter is the argument to that command

answered Feb 02 '14 at 15:09

Sean

Is there a term for the whole string "changeDirectoryTo /home/peter"? – goblin GONE Feb 02 '14 at 15:09
It would typically just be referred to as a command, even though there's an argument to it. – Sean Feb 02 '14 at 15:11
Could the 2 together be called a "statement"? – TweeZz Feb 02 '14 at 15:14
Yes, they could be, but command tends to be the most common term. For example, in a terminal window you have a command line, and people refer to things like `ls` or `cd` as commands. The fact that they make take zero or more arguments doesn't alter the fact that they're referred to as commands. – Sean Feb 02 '14 at 15:17

1 Answers1