The world’s #1 shell programming book—now fully updated for Linux and more!

UNIX Shells by Example is the world’s #1 shell programming book, from the world’s #1 shell programming instructor: Ellie Quigley. In UNIX Shells by Example, Fourth Edition, Quigley has thoroughly updated her classic and delivers the information today’s shell programmers need most—including comprehensive coverage of Linux shell programming with bash!

Drawing on 20 years’ experience as a shell programming instructor, Quigley guides you through every facet of programming all leading UNIX/Linux shells: bourne, bash, korn, C, and tcsh. Quigley illuminates each concept with up-to-date, classroom-tested code examples designed to help you jump-start your own projects. She also systematically introduces awk, sed, and grep for both UNIX and GNU/Linux . . . making this the only shell programming book you’ll ever need!

New in this edition:

• Comprehensive coverage of Linux shell programming with bash

• Shell Programming QuickStart: makes first-time shell programmers productive in just 15 pages

• Complete, practical debugging chapter

• Updated coverage of the latest UNIX and GNU/Linux versions of awk, sed, and grep

• Shell programming for sysadmins: walks you through key UNIX and Linux system shell scripts

Completely updated:

• Shell programming fundamentals: what shells are, what they do, how they work

• Choosing the right shell for any application

Nearly 50,000 UNIX/Linux sysadmins, developers, and power users have used previous editions of UNIX Shells by Example to become expert shell programmers. With UNIX Shells by Example, Fourth Edition, you can, too—even if you’re completely new to shell programming. Then, once you’re an expert, you’ll turn to this book constantly as the best source for reliable answers, solutions, and code.

About the CD-ROM

Comprehensive shell programming code library: all source code and data files for this book’s hundreds of example programs.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 50 Ratings

Great for review or reference - 2008-04-13
Reviewer Rating:
This book is broad-based in its approach to Unix shells and shell programming, and because it covers so much ground I'm not sure I'd recommend it to new users. However, if you are experienced and don't want to thumb through a dozen different books on Unix, this is the one to own. It has clear and simple examples that will refresh your memory quickly, as well as good illustrations of what is going on as your programs execute. I started out with the 1999 edition of this book, and I've updated as new editions have come along.

If you are a newcomer to Unix, I suggest Unix Programming Environment (Prentice-Hall Software Series). It's an oldie but a goodie and takes you from the ground up. That's really something this book doesn't do so well. Once you finish that book, move on to this one. There is some overlap, but I think the added attention will serve you well if you want to be proficient in shell programming and really know what is going on and how to handle various sets of tasks.

A great intro to UNIX power tools - 2007-09-27
Reviewer Rating:
Had to learn awk for a work assignment, so the natural choice was the O'Riely book. After struggling with it I had realized that as a novice UNIX power tools programmer, I needed a basic-to-intermediate level text with lots of examples. That's where Quigley's came to the rescue.

Some positives about the text are as follows

1, every concept and programming construct is followed by an example
2, the sample data file (to try the different programming techniques against) are repeated multiple times. This saves time and effort and avoids the hassle of flipping back and forth in the book
3, the material has been covered in just the right depth & breadth

The plan going forward is to use "Unix by example" as the stepping stone to advanced awk, sed, and Korn shell programming texts.
The second phase of the plan is to buy, read, and try every example from Quigley's Perl text before investing in Oreily's counterpart text.

All in all, a great introduction to the Unix power tools

an amazing book - 2008-02-15
Reviewer Rating:
Amazing book, got it in excellent conditions saving a lot from the normal price.

The book is written in an easy and smooth way, giving the reader the choice to start anywhere he prefer, since the book has various sections that can be studied in any order (if you have at keast the basics of unix or linux, otherwise is better to start from the beginning); and i never found a book like this; where i can find the answers in one place, instead of getting 4 different books plus google :)

ultra suggested, in particular for who has courses in unix and shell scripting at the college like me

A Must Have For Shell Programming - 2007-11-10
Reviewer Rating:
An excellent and comprehensive book for unix shells and scripting. Not a tutorial book like just mentioning about shells and their structures, but also shows application of information that it gives. Examples and explanations teach you all the aspects of a command's or utility's behavior.
These give precious hints to the reader.
And the answer of the question in your mind : Yes, one can be a good equipped shell programmer nominee if this book is read throughly and carefully.
As a last note; this book is the number one education source for new product test engineers in my company.

awesome book... - 2007-09-22
Reviewer Rating:
I'm currently using this book for a college class and I must say it is fairly easy to read and understand. I am somewhat a beginner when it comes to Linux Shell programming. Understanding the concepts in this book needs a little experience from the reader but it still is easy to follow.

Browse Similar Topics

Top Level Categories:
Operating Systems

Sub-Categories:
Operating Systems > UNIX