Chapter 9: An Introduction to Shell Scripting

We have come to the part that defines one of the things that Unix (or Linux) is known for – its scripting. When it comes to the so-called Unix philosophy, being able not only to use tools that the command line offers to you but also being able to create your own is an amazing ability, using shell tools that do one thing really well.

Scripting is exactly that – the ability to create simple (and complex) tools that, at their core, are a set of commands performing a certain task. We need to clear one thing up before everything else – there is a distinction that some people make between programming and scripting. Strictly speaking, all scripting is programming, but not all programming is scripting. We are talking about disciplines that follow the exact same premises, logic, and ways of thinking, but at the same time, there are major differences between the two. When we talk about scripting, we are in reality creating...