bash Idioms: Write Powerful, Flexible, Readable Shell Scripts

by Carl Albing Ph. D., J.P. Vossen

Shell scripts are everywhere, especially those written in bash-compatible syntax. But these scripts can be complex and obscure. Complexity is the enemy of security, but it's also the enemy of readability and understanding. With this practical book, you'll learn how to decipher old bash code and write new code that's as clear and readable as possible. Authors Carl Albing and JP Vossen show you how to use the power and flexibility of the shell to your advantage. You may know enough bash to get by, but this book will take your skills from manageable to magnificent. Whether you use Linux, Unix, Windows, or a Mac, you'll learn how to read and write scripts like an expert. Your future you will thank you. You'll explore the clear idioms to use and obscure ones to avoid, so that you
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Genres: Computer Science, Technology

167 pages, Paperback

Published April 19, 2022

Reviews

[Emre Sevinç · Rating 5 out of 5]

When it comes to hacking your way around Unix, GNU/Linux, or macOS on the command line, dealing with all sorts of automation tasks and scripts, Bash is almost always there. In other words, Bash is Lindy. Its initial release was more than 30 years ago, and I've been using it since 1994 (those good old Slackware Linux days!)

Regardless of the countless criticism against using Bash for building complex systems (some of them with a lot of merit, I must admit!), Bash is here to say, therefore taking the advice from this book seriously is the least you can do. Having said that, I'd say the book is not for beginners, it is rather for seasoned software developers, system administrators, Site Reliability Engineers, and similar folk who spend their days on the command line. Even if you don't build complex systems using Bash scripting, knowing the idioms in this book will serve you well.

Apart from that, I must say that I particularly like the sections describing idioms about arrays and mapfile usage.

Long story short, this book can be considered a concise companion to Bash Cookbook: Solutions and Examples for Bash Users. Also, please do not forget to keep "Shell Script Best Practices" document and ShellCheck tool nearby! ;)

[Luuuuu and Sooooon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little book to read. It is fun to read. But I still prefer use python to replace bash, which is much easier to process loop.