Unix Shell Programming (3rd Edition) [Paperback]

Stephen G. Kochan (Author), Patrick Wood (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0672324903 | ISBN-13: 978-0672324901 | Publication Date: March 9, 2003 | Edition: 3

Unix Shell Programming is a tutorial aimed at helping Unix and Linux users get optimal performance out of their operating out of their operating system. It shows them how to take control of their systems and work efficiently by harnessing the power of the shell to solve common problems. The reader learns everything he or she needs to know to customize the way a Unix system responds.

The vast majority of Unix users utilize the Korn shell or some variant of the Bourne shell, such as bash. Three are covered in the third edition of Unix Shell Programming. It begins with a generalized tutorial of Unix and tools and then moves into detailed coverage of shell programming.

Topics covered include: regular expressions, the kernel and the utilities, command files, parameters, manipulating text filters, understanding and debugging shell scripts, creating and utilizing variables, tools, processes, and customizing the shell.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Unix Shell Programming is a tutorial aimed at helping Unix and Linux users get optimal performance out of their operating out of their operating system. It shows them how to take control of their systems and work efficiently by harnessing the power of the shell to solve common problems. The reader learns everything he or she needs to know to customize the way a Unix system responds.

The vast majority of Unix users utilize the Korn shell or some variant of the Bourne shell, such as bash. Three are covered in the third edition of Unix Shell Programming. It begins with a generalized tutorial of Unix and tools and then moves into detailed coverage of shell programming.

Topics covered include: regular expressions, the kernel and the utilities, command files, parameters, manipulating text filters, understanding and debugging shell scripts, creating and utilizing variables, tools, processes, and customizing the shell.

About the Author

Stephen G. Kochan is the owner of TechFitness, a technology-based fitness company. Prior to that, he was the President and CEO of Pipeline Associates, a company specializing in color printing software. Mr. Kochan is the author of several best-selling books on Unix and C programming, including the best-selling Programming in C. He also acted as Series Editor for the Hayden Unix System Library.

Patrick Wood is the CTO of the New Jersey location of Electronics for Imaging. He was a member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories when he met Mr. Kochan back in 1985. Together they founded Pipeline Associates, Inc., a Unix consulting firm, where he was the Vice President. The co-authored Exploring the Unix System, Unix System Security, Topics in C Programming, and Unix Shell Programming.

Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Sams; 3 edition (March 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0672324903
• ISBN-13: 978-0672324901
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Computers & Technology > Operating Systems > Unix > Shell
  • #10 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > APIs & Operating Environments

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fairly painless, helpful introduction to UNIX scripting, May 24, 2003

By 

Richard Bejtlich "TaoSecurity" (Metro Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Unix Shell Programming (3rd Edition) (Paperback)

"UNIX Shell Programming, 3rd Ed" (USP3E) is probably the book to buy if you're a beginning UNIX user with dreams of writing shell scripts. The book does a good job of explaining many of the key concepts needed to get real work done on UNIX systems. While readers with advanced backgrounds will prefer a book like "Mastering UNIX Shell Scripting" by Randal Michael, USP3E will please most UNIX scripting newbies.

USP3E begins with a review of the basics -- working with files and directories, redirecting input/output, pipes, and the shell itself. Chapter four's discussion of regular expressions is generally useful, although "saving matched characters" on p. 64 was confusing. This made the "command substitution" material on p. 129 unclear. Chapter six was devoted to the use of different sorts of quotes, which seems excessive until one realizes the significant differences between using single and double quotation marks in scripts. Attention to detail like this, along with generous inclusion of sample scripts, helped this book earn a strong rating.

While the book includes examples of using sed, awk is not mentioned. Sed could have received more coverage as well. While the authors direct interested readers to other books, perhaps a future edition might include chapters devoted to sed and awk? While the publisher's site doesn't mention a source for errata, it is available by contacting the authors.

Overall, I liked this book. It is up-to-date and compares favorably to the other books I consider reading to learn more about UNIX shell scripting. Armed with the knowledge gained from USP3E, readers should be equipped to automate some routine tasks. They will also be able to progress to more advanced shell scripting resources.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dated, but fantastic, May 31, 2001

By 

Alex J. Avriette "Alex Avriette" (Arlington, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: UNIX Shell Programming, Revised Edition (Paperback)

I am a perl and C programmer, and I am very familiar with the shells outlined in this book. So the material was not particularly "new" for me. I can see how it would be difficult to understand for a user who was new to shell programming.

If the intended audience is the intermediate unix user who knows something of programming, this book gets a full 5 star, my seal-of-approval rating. Terrific.

One thing it is lacking is a brief mention of perl or of awk. In many cases, it is simpler to write:

date | awk '{ print $2 }'

instead of:

date | cut -d' ' -f2

or, at least from the standpoint of understandability and readability. but the book doesnt claim to be a manual for awk, and oreilly has an excellent book on the subject.

I continually recommend this book to people, and where ever I go, I find this book on the bookshelves of successful people.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars First and only shell programming book I own, May 22, 1998

By 

Doug Alcorn ([e-mail]) (South Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: UNIX Shell Programming, Revised Edition (Paperback)

I bought this book when it was originally published back in 1990. I started with little programming experience, and no shell programming experience. It brought me up to speed quickly. I no longer write many shell scripts; however, I still use it as a desk reference when I do. For any UNIX system administrator, this book (or one just like it) is essential.

BTW, I have been looking for a better book all these years and haven't found one. It's not that I think this book is perfect, rather there just aren't many good books on this subject.