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 andsubshells

Debugging techniques, such as trace and verbose modes

Techniques for implementing system-wide shell customization and features related to system security

For system administrators, programmers, and end users, shell command or carefully crafted shell script can save you time and effort, or facilitate consistency and repeatability for a variety of common tasks. This cookbook provides more than 300 practical recipes for using bash, the popular Unix shell that enables you to harness and customize the power of any Unix or Linux system. Ideal for new and experienced users alike-including proficient Windows users and sysadmins-this updated second edition helps you solve a wide range of problems. You'll learn ways to handle input/output, file manipulation, program execution, administrative tasks, and many other challenges. Each recipe includes one or more scripting examples and a discussion of why the solution works. You'll find recipes for problems including: Standard output and input, and executing commands Shell variables, shell logic, and arithmetic Intermediate shell tools and advanced scripting Searching for files with find, locate, and slocate Working with dates and times Creating shell scripts for various end-user tasks Working with tasks that require parsing Writing secure shell scripts Configuring and customizing bash