Learning the Korn Shell (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This Nutshell Handbook(R) is a thorough introduction to the Korn shell, both as a user interface and as a programming language. The Korn shell is a program that interprets UNIX commands. It has many features that aren't found in other shells, including command history. This book provides a clear and concise explanation of the Korn shell's features. It explains ksh string operations, co-processes, signals and signal handling, and command-line interpretation. The book also includes real-life programming examples and a Korn shell debugger called kshdb, the only known implementation of a shell debugger anywhere.

From the Publisher

This Nutshell Handbook(R) is a thorough introduction to the Korn shell, both as a user interface and as a programming language. The Korn shell, like the C and Bourne shells, is a program that interprets UNIX commands. It has many features that aren't found in other shells, including command history (the ability to recall and edit previous commands). The Korn shell is also faster; several of its features allow you to write programs that execute more quickly than their Bourne or C shell equivalents. This book provides a clear and concise explanation of the Korn shell's features. It explains ksh string operations, co-processes, signals and signal handling, and one of the worst "dark corners" of shell programming: command-line interpretation. It does this by introducing simple real-life examples and then adding options and complexity in later chapters, illustrating the way real-world script development generally proceeds. An additional (and unique) programming aid, a Korn shell debugger (kshdb), is also included. Learning the Korn Shell is an ideal resource for many UNIX users and programmers, including software developers who want to "prototype" their designs, system administrators who want to write tools for their own use, and even novices who just want to use some of ksh's more advanced interactive features.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (January 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565920546
• ISBN-13: 978-1565920545
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,155,721 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but has some flaws, August 14, 1999

By	R. EARLS "unixnut" (Westwood, Kansas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have owned this book since 1996 and I used it as my introduction to Korn shell programming. To the credit of the book, I was able to become very adept at Korn shell and I have written some amazing scripts. However, I must admit that some sections of this book are misleading, confusing and downright incomprehensible. It took many re-readings of some chapters before the author's lesson was brought to light. I would recommend this book as a Korn shell reference, but it is probably not the best place to start for a Korn shell beginner. I am finding this to be true for a lot of the books by O'Reilly & Associates.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good textbook-style reference for Korn, March 9, 2000

By	Justin Deal (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

When I bought this book, I had already spent a year working in a UNIX environment, but I had no real experience with shell programming. However, after reading this book, I'm having no problems writing intermediate to advanced level Korn scripts at work.

It sounds like some people who have reviewed this were expecting a Nutshell book, but apparently they didn't read the description of the book. To truly appreciate this book, one should read it in a fairly linear fashion, from cover to cover (like a textbook). It's not really meant to be skimmed, since it's not one of the Nutshell books.

Whatever the case, I think that for anyone interested in Korn shell programming, this is a pretty good introduction to it. My only recommendation is that you practice the concepts in the book while reading, and make sure you have a copy of 'UNIX in a Nutshell'.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book for the beginner - advanced ksh programmer, March 30, 2001

By	Aquaria.Info "Aquaria.Info - Aquarium Fish On... (Aquaria.Info) - See all my reviews

This is a great book for someone new to ksh programmer. It should be treated as a work manual and not as a reference book. Read this book through from cover to cover and you'll soon be writing ksh scripts with ease.

The book takes you though Korn shell basics from answer what a shell is to using files, I/O, and character quoting.

From there it goes into command line editing, customizing your environment, and into basic programming. Once through that you learn flow control, arrays, advanced I/O, and process handling.

Finally you learn how to debug the script you just wrote.

As a reference manual this book is average. It's not meant to be a typical "nutshell" book and shouldn't be treated as one.

The bottom line? Buy this book if you are truly interested in learning how to program in the Korn shell.