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Chapter 1. Bash and Bash scripts

Table of Contents
1.1. Common shell programs
1.1.1. General shell functions
1.1.2. Shell types
1.2. Advantages of the Bourne Again SHell
1.2.1. Bash is the GNU shell
1.2.2. Features only found in bash
1.3. Executing commands
1.3.1. General
1.3.2. Shell built-in commands
1.3.3. Executing programs from a script
1.4. Building blocks
1.5. Developing good scripts
1.5.1. Properties of good scripts
1.5.2. Structure
1.5.3. Terminology
1.5.4. A word on order and logic
1.5.5. An example Bash script: mysystem.sh
1.5.6. Example init script
1.6. Summary
1.7. Exercises

In this introduction module we

  • Describe some common shells

  • Point out GNU Bash advantages and features

  • Describe the shell's building blocks

  • Discuss Bash initialization files

  • See how the shell executes commands

  • Look into some simple script examples