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.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 35 Ratings

Learning the Korn Shell (2nd Edition) - 2007-01-28
Reviewer Rating:
I once was blind. Spending decades in the UNIX world I spent time with several shells. Down through the years I visited many shells and even bought a book on the Korn Shell by the designer David Korn. I sort of got complacent (know-it-all).

Now obtaining a position supporting AIX I once again find that the prefer supported shell is the Korn shell; even sh is linked to ksh93. Several times I came across unexplainable anomalies; sometime paths would be absolute and at other times they would follow links. Traps seemed to work a tad different and other outcomes seemed to be hit or miss.

The purchase of this book has been a real eye opener. What seemed to be arbitrary was in reality lack of personal knowledge of the latest version of the korn shell.

I could not believe that a book by David Korn of AT&T did not even mention signals.

Some of the highlights of the book are:
Job control
Functions
Command history
Command-line editing
Integrated programming features
Control structures
Debugging primitives
Regular expressions
Advanced I/O features
New options and variables
Increased speed
Security features
Major features
Security features
POSIX compliance
Arithmetic for loops
Floating-point arithmetic
Structured variable names
Indirect variable references
Associative arrays
Additional text manipulation facilities
More built-in commands

Excellent - 2005-12-02
Reviewer Rating:
This book is just great. It has a lot of examples and every concept is well explained. Even for those who are not used to programming, this is a great book to start shell scripting.
The authors relate concepts (commands usage, for example) with those of bash and other shells, which is very helpful if you already know how to program with csh, Bourne, etc.
So... if you're looking for a GOOD book about ksh, buy this one!!

Learning the Korn Shell (2nd Edition) - 2008-07-24
Reviewer Rating:
This book is excellent for beginner-intermediate users. I did not have any experience with Unix scripts prior to this book, after finishing it I came away with a very good understanding of the Korn Shell.

Book is well written and covers the basics: command line editing, setting up your environment, up to process handling and debugging. One flaw of the book is that there is not enough examples. Also many of the examples later on in the book are built based on examples from previous chapters. While that is good for a learning exercise it does not give you a direct, simple example you may require.

Overall I would definitely recommend this book, I still use this as a reference at work.

Good Book, Worth Buying - 2007-07-13
Reviewer Rating:
I bought this book a few days ago for use at work. Previously, I didn't have much of a need for interacting with a Unix shell outside of cd and ls.

This book reads easy, and the author(s) seem genuinely interested in the subject - not the usual dry textbook point of view. Topics are explained well, with small examples to show how it actually works. I would suggest having access to a Unix machine with the Korn shell, as you can experiment with the commands a bit on your own.

BTW, I didn't realize that the Unix machine I work on has the 1988 version of the Korn shell instead of the 93 version (the book covers 93), but most of the book is still relevant. They also cover what has changed in the 2 versions.

Very Helpful Reference to KSH - 2005-11-22
Reviewer Rating:
I found this book very helpful in learning to write scripts for the Korn Shell. I keep it on my desk all the time now, even for other shells (Bash/etc). It's an invaluable reference to me.

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