Learning the bash Shell (Nutshell Handbooks) - Softcover

Newham, Cameron; Rosenblatt, Bill

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9781565921474: Learning the bash Shell (Nutshell Handbooks)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 156592147X ISBN 13: 9781565921474

Publisher: O'Reilly Media, 1995

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The first thing users of the Linux operating system come face to face with is the shell. "Shell" is the UNIX term for a user interface to the system -- something that lets you communicate with the computer via the keyboard and display. Bash, the Free Software Foundation's "Bourne Again Shell," is the default shell for Linux, the popular free UNIX-like operating system. It's also a replacement for the standard UNIX Bourne shell, which serves both as a user interface and as a programming language. Like the FSF's other tools, bash is more than a mere replacement: it extends the Bourne shell in many ways. New features include command line editing, key bindings, integrated programming features, command completion, control structures (especially the select construct, which enables you to create menus easily) and new ways to customize your environment.Whether you want to use bash for its user interface or its programming features you will find Learning the bash Shell a valuable guide. The book covers all of bash's features, both for interactive use and programming. If you are new to shell programming, Learning the bash Shell provides an excellent introduction, covering everything from the most basic to the most advanced features, like signal handling and command line processing. If you've been writing shell scripts for years, it offers a great way to find out what the new shell offers. The book is full of examples of shell commands and programs that are designed to be useful in your everyday life as a user, not just to illustrate the feature being explained. All of these examples are freely available to you online on the Internet.With this book you'll 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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From the Back Cover:

Learning the bash Shell is the definitive guide to bash, the Free Software Foundation's "Bourne Again Shell". It's a freely available replacement for the popular UNIX Bourne shell. It is also the shell of choice for Linux users around the world. You'll find this guide valuable whether you're interested in bash as a user interface or for its powerful programming capabilities. It will teach you how to use bash's advanced command-line features, like command history, command-line editing, and command completion. Learning the bash Shell also introduces shell programming, a skill no UNIX or Linux user should be without. The book demonstrates what you can do with bash's programming features. You'll learn about flow control, signal handling, and command-line processing and I/O. There is also a chapter on debugging your bash programs. Finally, Learning the bash Shell shows you how to get bash, install it, configure it, and customize it. It also gives advice to system administrators managing bash for their user community.

About the Author:

Cameron Newham lives in Perth, Western Australia. After completing a Bachelor of Science majoring in information technology and geography at the University of Western Australia, Cameron joined Universal Defence Systems (later to become Australian Defence Industries) as a software engineer. He has been with ADI for six years, working on various aspects of command and control systems. In his spare time Cameron can be found surfing the Internet, ballroom dancing, or driving his sports car. He also has more than a passing interest in space science, 3D graphics, synthesiser music, and Depeche Mode.

Bill Rosenblatt is president of GiantSteps/Media Technology Strategies, a consulting firm in New York City. Before founding GiantSteps, Bill was CTO of Fathom, an online content and education company associated with Columbia University and other scholarly institutions. He has been a technology executive at McGraw-Hill and Times Mirror, and head of strategic marketing for media and publishing at Sun Microsystems. Bill was also one of the architects of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI), a standard for online content identification and DRM.

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