The key to mastering any Unix system, especially Linux and Mac OS X, is a thorough knowledge of shell scripting. Scripting is a way to harness and customize the power of any Unix system, and it's an essential skill for any Unix users, including system administrators and professional OS X developers. But beneath this simple promise lies a treacherous ocean of variations in Unix commands and standards.

bash Cookbook teaches shell scripting the way Unix masters practice the craft. It presents a variety of recipes and tricks for all levels of shell programmers so that anyone can become a proficient user of the most common Unix shell -- the bash shell -- and cygwin or other popular Unix emulation packages. Packed full of useful scripts, along with examples that explain how to create better scripts, this new cookbook gives professionals and power users everything they need to automate routine tasks and enable them to truly manage their systems -- rather than have their systems manage them.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 12 Ratings

Paid for itself in 5 minutes - 2009-03-07
Reviewer Rating:
I had one of those questions today about whether an option exists for a particular built-in command, 'type', and was about to painstakingly page through the bash man page as usual, when I remembered I had just gotten this book. Looked up 'type' in the index, and it referred me to two different pages: one that told me how I can avoid paging through the man page (use the 'help' command!), and one telling me everything I needed to know about using the command (and others like it) in my desired context. I was so happy I kissed it. Yes, I kissed the book.

From a quick thumb-through, I gathered that the rest of the book was just as concise and easy to navigate. Probably not great for complete linux n00bs, but it sure beats the bash man page!!! For anyone who uses the bash shell on a regular basis, whether for scripting or just running unix commands, this is absolutely indispensable. I have no idea how I got through 13+ years of unix programming without it.

Great Cookbook - 2009-02-03
Reviewer Rating:
Bash Cookbook is a great book for anyone who is interested in learning more about bash and shell scripting. The book starts off with its first chapters dedicated to beginners and learning what bash is, how the prompt works, and how exactly shell scripting works. As the book progresses further, the examples and topics get to an intermediate level, and finally end with an advanced level. The book is packed with wonderful examples and full explanations of all parts of bash.

I had very little knowledge of bash and any sort of scripting before reading this book. I started at the beginning even though I knew some of the topics that were covered, but I still learned things from the tips, which are scattered throughout the book. This book is a good fit for anyone that has very little experience. It explains every type of variable, how to make them, their uses, and shows examples of them in use. It does the same for loops, logic and arithmetic, and every other topic covered in the book. At the very end of the book there are nearly one hundred pages of appendixes which are a wonderful resource full of tables and sample code.

I feel very comfortable after reading this book to do more advanced tasks with bash and shell scripting. I strongly suggest this book to anyone who is interested in leaping into a UNIX shell for the first time. The book is very up to date as it was published in May of 2007, and I plan to use it as a reference for every bash questions I could have.

Great book, but not for beginners - 2009-01-13
Reviewer Rating:
Great examples and excellent explanations on why users should do (or not do) things in certain ways when using BASH. However, the book takes off running with no context for Linux beginners. So if you're a n00b like me, start with another book first, and then come back and buy this one. It's well worth having.

Very good book - 2009-08-26
Reviewer Rating:
Good book about bash. If you are not a bash expert, but you like bash, then read it and your bash skill will be improved.

It shown how to daemonize your scripts and tell about very nice tips.

Maybe after this book, the next should be read about posix shell features.

Regards

Good book to read - 2008-11-29
Reviewer Rating:
I like this book. I will recommend it to someone who has some bash experience since it's not organized as a reference or study guide.

Browse Similar Topics

Top Level Categories:
Operating Systems

Sub-Categories:
Operating Systems > BASH
Operating Systems > Linux
Linux > Administration
Linux > Programming