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Learning the bash Shell, Third Edition

By Cameron Newham
Third Edition March 2005
Pages: 352 (More details)
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)

Book description

This refreshed edition serves as the most valuable guide yet to the bash shell. It's full of practical examples of shell commands and programs guaranteed to make everyday use of Linux that much easier. Includes information on key bindings, command line editing and processing, integrated programming features, signal handling, and much more!
Full Description

O'Reilly's bestselling book on Linux's bash shell is at it again. Now that Linux is an established player both as a server and on the desktop Learning the bash Shell has been updated and refreshed to account for all the latest changes. Indeed, this third edition serves as the most valuable guide yet to the bash shell. As any good programmer knows, the first thing users of the Linux operating system come face to face with is the shell the UNIX term for a user interface to the system. In other words, it's what lets you communicate with the computer via the keyboard and display. Mastering the bash shell might sound fairly simple but it isn't. In truth, there are many complexities that need careful explanation, which is just what Learning the bash Shell provides. If you are new to shell programming, the book provides an excellent introduction, covering everything from the most basic to the most advanced features. And if you've been writing shell scripts for years, it offers a great way to find out what the new shell offers. Learning the bash Shell is also full of practical examples of shell commands and programs that will make everyday use of Linux that much easier. With this book, programmers will learn:

How to install bash as your login shell
The basics of interactive shell use, including UNIX file and directory structures, standard I/O, and background jobs
Command line editing, history substitution, and key bindings
How to customize your shell environment without programming
The nuts and bolts of basic shell programming, flow control structures, command-line options and typed variables
Process handling, from job control to processes, coroutines and subshells
Debugging techniques, such as trace and verbose modes
Techniques for implementing system-wide shell customization and features related to system security

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Book details

Title: Learning the bash Shell
Third Edition: March 2005
ISBN 10: 0-596-00965-8
ISBN 13: 9780596009656
Pages: 352
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 2 Reviews)

Featured customer reviews

maybe a bug in pushd() at 5.1.1 2006-02-12 18:40:08 Anonymous Reader [Reply | View]
the pushd() funtion in section 5.1.1:

pushd ( ) { dirname=$1 if cd ${dirname:?"missing directory name."} then DIR_STACK="$dirname ${DIR_STACK:-$PWD' '}" echo $DIR_STACK else echo still in $PWD. fi }
should it be:
pushd ( ) { dirname=$1 oldpwd=$PWD if cd ${dirname:?"missing directory name."} then DIR_STACK="$dirname ${DIR_STACK:-$oldpwd' '}" echo $DIR_STACK else echo still in $PWD. fi } ?

Good and Suggestions Rating:
2005-07-28 19:10:23 linux learner [Reply | View]
This book is a good introduction to the bash shell. It is well written and well-edited.
As a serious hobbiest programmer of several languages, I was interested in getting deeper
into the applications of the shell of Linux as an important aspect of learning the overall operating system and gaining the ability to write my own programs both at the GUI level and at the shell or terminal level.
The shell presents a confusing array of arcane syntaxes and symbols that I found difficult
to learn. This book helps sort that out. The shell also throws a group of terminal applications at tasks using the likes of sed, awk, and grep that totally confuse the neophyte. The book only slightly makes a dent in this aspect.
One deficiency is the lack of online sample code that can be downloaded although some typing of your own is always helpful to learning. I went to the 2nd edition site and got what appears to be similar examples.
I actually would like to see more examples and of a greater variety in the book. Some more advanced but still accessible scripts would be useful in the transition from simple code to real applications. Examples more on the line of the debugger code that is given. What do I mean? Well, how about an installation script for software the user might write including installation options and the use or alternative non-use of rpms. Some tips on shaping the environment and configuration for running your programs. How about some internet access via scripts that use wget perhaps in an automated manner for software updates (I know there are applications that do this already). How about extensive file copying and directory creation similar to moving things around with Conqueror or copying from cd's except from the shell. Obviously, this list goes on and on. The author spent an inordinate amount of time with pushd and popd but not one example using tar which is a bread and butter application.
It is a good book that can still be improved.

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Media reviews

"After you read and understand this book, you'll be well on your way to becoming a competent bash shell programmer."
--Ed Schaefer, Unix Review, June 2005

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