Bash Shell Programming
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Course Description
The role of the Linux shell is to provide a command-line interface to the Linux system. Unlike graphical user interfaces, the shell provides access to the full richness and power of Linux. The Bash shell is the standard programming language of Linux system administrators, programmers, and users.
This lecture/lab course shows the student how to customize the shell's configuration, and create custom programs (shell scripts) that increase productivity by automating mundane tasks and extending the Linux command set.
The Instructor demonstrates common mistakes and shows how they can be avoided, and explains proper application of the Consultix Shell Quoting Guidelines.
We typically offer this course in the same week as Linux Utilities, so the student can learn the "vocabulary" of Linux shell programming (the utilities) immediately after learning the "grammar" (shell programming).
The course focuses on the Bash shell, but most of the material is also relevant to the Bourne and Korn shells of UNIX systems.
Who Should Attend
This course is intended for those who want to customize the settings of their login shell and write custom shell scripts.Prerequisites
Students should be experienced with one of the following text editors: vi, emacs, or pico (or another locally available editor, for on-site classes). Students should also have a familiarity with the hierarchical file system and basic commands such as cd, ls, chmod, & grep. This background can be achieved by attending Linux Fundamentals. Previous programming experience is very helpful, but logically-minded individuals without such a background can also benefit from attending.Author & Instructor
Dr. Tim Maher wrote a course on the Bourne shell for AT&T in the early 80s, and taught it for many years to AT&T's customers and employees. Since 1986, Tim has taught shell programming to literally thousands of students and has written many sophisticated applications in shell languages.For example, in the mid 1980s he created a friendly, menu-oriented user interface to UNIX for undergraduate students at U.C. Berkeley (using more than 8,000 lines of shell code). Later, he developed the first source code beautifiers for the Korn shell, C++, and Perl languages.
In the early 1990s, Tim wrote a Shell script of over 1,000 lines to control machine tools used by Seattle aerospace suppliers in the fabrication of Boeing aircraft parts.
In the late 1990s, he wrote software to manage the terabytes of data uploaded by customers who were using the Netscape Online Backup product.
As a recognized expert on Shell programming and the founder and head of Consultix, Dr. Tim Maher regularly teaches courses on a wide variety of UNIX, Linux, and Perl topics. Consultix instructors are renowned for their ability to communicate complex concepts in simple terms and to make the study of dry technical material enjoyable.
Topics
| Start-Up Files | Shell Variables | Argument Handling |
| I/O Redirection | Conditional Execution | Looping Constructs |
| Variable Substitution | File-Name Generation | Command Substitution |
| Aliases | Built-In Commands | Quoting Techniques |
| The Process Hierarchy | Shell Scripts | Quoting Guidelines |
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A former student says:
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Gary Holmesmith, Engineer, Kaiser Aluminum Corp. Attended: Bash Shell Programming & Linux Utilities |