Introduction

In the previous chapters, we learned most of the shell constructs and syntax that are used with the interactive command line. We also built a vocabulary of useful commands and learned how to combine them. In this final chapter, we will learn a few more shell constructs and commands, all of which when combined, will let us use the shell as a generic programming language.

The programs we write for the shell's language are called shell scripts. Any task we perform once can be converted into a shell script that can be repeated later. Scripts can be executed just like any other program in the system, giving us a way to automate our workflows. Since the shell can use any program that's installed on the system, by installing the right command-line utilities, we can automate practically anything we do manually.

Once we have learned this, for the remainder of the chapter, we will create several complex shell scripts that perform a non-trivial task, to cement our...