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 4.0 programs through standard programming techniques.

    * Complete bash coverage
    * Teaches bash as a programming language
    * Helps you master bash 4.0 features

What you’ll learn

    * Use the shell to write new utilities and accomplish most programming tasks.
    * Use shell parameter expansion to replace many external commands, making scripts very fast.
    * Learn to avoid many common mistakes that cause scripts to fail.
    * Learn how bash’s readline and history libraries can save typing when getting user input.
    * Learn to use the new bash 4.0 features.
    * Build shell scripts that get information from the Web.