How to Use the Command 'tokei' (with Examples)
Tokei is a powerful open-source tool that analyzes your codebase to provide statistics about your code. Whether you’re looking to measure lines of code, comments, or blanks as a developer or project manager, Tokei offers insightful metrics you need. Particularly useful in large and multi-language projects, Tokei reveals vital insights into code distribution, helping you manage, maintain, and improve your codebase effectively.
Use case 1: Display a report for the code in a directory and all subdirectories
Code:
tokei path/to/directory
Motivation:
When managing a large project, you might want to get a holistic view of all the code written. This includes understanding not only the main files but everything within the entire directory structure, capturing every file and folder. Using Tokei for this approach gives you insights into the overall scale and structure of your project. This is particularly useful when embarking on new projects or at stages where comprehensive maintenance is required.
Explanation:
tokei: Invokes the Tokei program.path/to/directory: Specifies the path to the directory you wish to analyze. Tokei will recursively explore this directory, generating statistics for all files and subdirectories within it.
Example Output:
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Language Files Lines Code Comments Blanks
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Rust 10 1500 1300 100 100
Markdown 5 800 500 200 100
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Total 15 2300 1800 300 200
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Use case 2: Display a report for a directory excluding .min.js files
Code:
tokei path/to/directory -e *.min.js
Motivation:
Minified JavaScript files (*.min.js) are often byproducts of build processes and not manually maintained by developers. They add unnecessary bulk to your code statistics, and excluding them helps in focusing on source files that actually need review. This subset exclusion is beneficial during development audits or when estimating the amount of actual, maintainable code in a project.
Explanation:
tokei: Again, the command program.path/to/directory: The directory to analyze.-e *.min.js: This flag denotes exclusion, asking Tokei to ignore all files ending in.min.jswhile aggregating statistics.
Example Output:
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Language Files Lines Code Comments Blanks
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Rust 5 1000 900 50 50
JavaScript 3 700 600 50 50
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Total 8 1700 1500 100 100
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Use case 3: Display statistics for individual files in a directory
Code:
tokei path/to/directory --files
Motivation:
Identifying the individual contribution of each file in a directory is essential for fine-tuned analysis. Perhaps you’re interested in singling out particularly large or complex files that might need refactoring. This granular analysis provides visibility into each file’s size and complexity, offering a keen sense of intricacy and distribution within your codebase.
Explanation:
tokei: The command initiating the analysis.path/to/directory: The directory under scrutiny.--files: This flag tells Tokei to produce output for each file separately, rather than compiling it into a collective report.
Example Output:
file1.js
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Language Lines Code Comments Blanks
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JavaScript 200 150 30 20
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file2.rs
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Language Lines Code Comments Blanks
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rust 300 250 30 20
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total
Use case 4: Display a report for all files of type Rust and Markdown
Code:
tokei path/to/directory -t=Rust,Markdown
Motivation:
If you’re working with multiple languages but interested in only specific ones, you need to filter your analysis to focus on them. This use case effectively narrows down statistics to languages or file types that matter for your current context, which is especially useful in multi-language codebases when preparing language-specific reports or insights.
Explanation:
tokei: Initiates the program.path/to/directory: Denotes the directory to check.-t=Rust,Markdown: Specifies the types of files or programming languages to include in the report, in this case, Rust and Markdown. This tells Tokei to ignore any languages or file types not specified in the argument.
Example Output:
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Language Files Lines Code Comments Blanks
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Rust 6 1200 1000 100 100
Markdown 4 600 400 150 50
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Total 10 1800 1400 250 150
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion:
Tokei is an invaluable tool for understanding and managing your codebase through its analysis and statistics features. Whether you’re looking at comprehensive project-wide statistics or focused language-specific metrics, Tokei provides a wide scope of customizable options to suit your needs. By employing these examples, developers and project managers alike can gain critical insights into their projects, enhancing productivity and guiding successful code maintenance strategies.
