Pro Bash Programming, Second Edition

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

   PDF

2. Hello, World: Your First Shell Program

   • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

   Pages 1-6

3. Input, Output, and Throughput

   • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

   Pages 7-17

4. Looping and Branching

   • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

   Pages 19-28

5. Command-Line Parsing and Expansion

   • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

   Pages 29-41

6. Parameters and Variables

   • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

   Pages 43-57

7. Shell Functions

   • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

   Pages 59-67

8. String Manipulation

   • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

   Pages 69-81

9. File Operations and Commands

   • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

   Pages 83-99

10. Reserved Words and Built-In Commands

    • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

    Pages 101-115

11. Writing Bug-Free Scripts and Debugging the Rest

    • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

    Pages 117-128

12. Programming for the Command Line

    • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

    Pages 129-144

13. Runtime Configuration

    • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

    Pages 145-160

14. Data Processing

    • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

    Pages 161-181

15. Scripting the Screen

    • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

    Pages 183-193

16. Entry-Level Programming

    • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

    Pages 195-207

17. Shell Variables

    • Chris F. A. Johnson, Jayant Varma

    Pages 209-221

18. Back Matter

    Pages 223-227

    PDF

Pro Bash Programming teaches you how to effectively utilize the Bash shell in your programming. The Bash shell is a complete programming language, not merely a glue to combine external Linux commands. By taking full advantage of Shell internals, Shell programs can perform as snappily as utilities written in C or other compiled languages. And you will see how, without assuming Unix lore, you can write professional Bash 4.3 programs through standard programming techniques.

This second edition has updated for Bash 4.3, and many scripts have been rewritten to make them more idiomatically Bash, taking better advantage of features specific to Bash. It is easy to read, understand, and will teach you how to get to grips with Bash programming without drowning you in pages and pages of syntax.

Using this book you will be able to use the shell efficiently, make scripts run faster using expansion and external commands, and understand how to overcome many common mistakes that cause scripts to fail. This book is perfect for all beginning Linux and Unix system administrators who want to be in full control of their systems, and really get to grips with Bash programming.

Chris F.A. Johnson was introduced to Unix in 1990 and learned shell scripting because there was no C compiler on the system. His first major project was a menu-driven, user-extensible database system with report generator. Chris uses the shell as his primary, general-purpose programming language, and his projects have included a member database, menuing system, and POP3 mail filtering and retrieval. Chris is the author of Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (Apress, 2005). When not pushing shell scripting to the limit, he designs and codes web sites, teaches chess, and composes cryptic crosswords.