Week 10: bash shell programming

From a book [1] by Linux evangelist Marcel Gagne, an overview of Linux commands overview of Linux commands to be read quickly.

Your bash shell has a configuration which is naturally specified in files. Learn what they are and see a few samples. [2]

From a fab book [3] all about programming the most popular Unix shells:

The fundamental grammar of the bash shell: it's very important, and this is a concise description.

See the chapter on Interactive Bash Shell. (As opposed to one that's running in background, where you can't see it.) Check its expanded table of contents at the left of your browser window and choose the topics from this chapter that interest you most. Here are the ones that I consider most essential:

• intro
  
• environment
  
• command line
  
• metacharacters
  
• quoting
  
• command substitution
  
• redirection
  
• pipes
  
• built-in commands
  

From the chapter on Programming the Bash Shell, try running the first few programs and making simple changes to them.

In particular, see Lab 56: Getting User Input. Write the program nosy, item 1 on this page, and send it to me.

Scan the appendix Useful Linux Utilities for Shell Programmers. You can use all of them as commands in any bash script.

[1] Moving to Linux: Kiss the Blue Screen of Death Goodbye! by Marcel Gagne. Mostly about GUI on Linux.

[2] Unix Visual Quickstart Guide by Ray and Ray.

[3] Unix Shells by Example by Ellie Quigley. It's the bomb.

I also like this book, which has an easy-going attitude: Linux Scripting for Bash.