Introduction Of
Shell Scripting
DUGGIRALA SUSHANTH
23B81A05J3
CSE-C
Introduction
• If you are using any popular operating system, you are indirectly interacting with shell.
• If you are running Ubuntu, Linux Mint or any other Linux distribution, you are interacting to
shell every time you use the terminal.
• Let's discuss about Linux shells and shell scripting so before understanding shell scripting we
must get familiar with following terminologies
• Kernel
• Shell
• Terminal
KERNEL
• What is Kernel?
• The kernel is a computer program that is the core of a computer's operating system, with
complete control over everything in the system.
• It manages following resources of the Linux system
• File management
• Process management
• I/O management
• Memory management
• Device management etc.
Shell
• A shell is special user program which provides an interface to the user to use the operating
system services.
• Shell accepts human readable commands from user and converts them into something which
the kernel can understand.
• It is a command language interpreter that executes commands read from input devices such
as keyboards or from files.
• The shell gets started w hen the user logs in or start the terminal.
• Shell is broadly classified into two categories
• Command Line Shell
• Graphical shell
• Shell can be accessed by user using a command line interface.
• A special program called Terminal in Linux/macOS, or Command Prompt in Windows OS is
provided to type in the human readable commands such as "cat", "Is" etc. and then it is being
execute.
• The result is then displayed on the terminal to the user.
• A terminal in Ubuntu OS 16.4 system looks like this
• Graphical Shells
• Graphical shells provide means for manipulating programs based on graphical user
interface (GUI), by allowing for operations.
• Such as opening, closing, moving and resizing windows, as well as switching focus between
windows.
• Window OS or Ubuntu OS can be considered as good example which provide GUIto the user
for interacting with program. User doesn’t need to type in command for every action .
• A typical GUI in Ubuntu system
Types of Shells
• There are several shells that available for Linux systems like the following few
• BASH (Bourne Again Shell)
• CSH (C Shell)
• KSH (Korn Shell)
BASH
• It is most widely used shell in Linux
systems.
• It is used as default login shell in Linux
systems and in macOS.
• It can also be installed on Windows OS.
C Shell
• The C shell's syntax and
usage are very similar to the
C programming language.
Korn Shell
• The Korn Shell also was the base for the POSIX
Shell standard specifications etc.
• Each shell does the same job but understand
different commands and provide different built in
functions
Shell Scripting
• Usually shells are interactive that mean, they accept command as input from users and execute
them.
• However, some time we want to execute a bunch of commands routinely, so we have type in all
commands each time in terminal.
• As shell can also take commands as input from files, we
can write these commands in a file and can execute
them in shell to avoid this repetitive work.
• These files are called Shell Scripts or Shell Programs.
Shell scripts are like the batch file in MS-DOS.
• Each shell script is saved with .sh file extension like-
myscript.sh
• A shell script has a syntax just like any other
programming language.
• If you have any prior experience with any programming
language like Python, C,C++ etc. it would be very easy
to get started with it.
• Why do we need shell scripts ?
• There are many reasons to write shell scripts
• To avoid repetitive work and automation.
• System admins use shell scripting for routine
backups.
• System monitoring.
• Adding new functionality to the shell etc.
• Advantages of shell scripts :
• The command and syntax are the same as those directly entered in command line, so
programmer do not need to switch to entirely different syntax.
• Writing shell scripts are much quicker.
• Quick start.
• Interactive debugging etc.
• Disadvantages of shell scripts :
• Prone to costly errors, a single mistake can change the command which might be harmful.
• Slow execution speed.
• Design flaws within the language syntax or implementation.
• Not well suited for large and complex task.
• Provide minimal data structure unlike other scripting languages. etc
• A shell script comprises following
elements
• Shell Keywords - if, else, break etc.
• Shell commands - cd, Is, echo, pwd, touch
etc.
• Functions
• Control flow – if, then, else, case and shell
loops etc.
• Command in Shell Scripting :
• Ls - The Is command : The list command
function in the Linux terminal to show all of the
major directories filed under a given file system.
• Cd - The cd command : Change directory will
allow the user to change between file
directories.
• Mv - The mv command : Move allow a user to
move a file to another folder.
• Mkdir - The mkdir command : Make directory
command allows the user to make a new
directory.
• Man - The man command : The manual
command is used to show the manual of
the inputted command.
• Touch - The touch command to make file in
the directory.
• Rm - The rm command : The rmdir to
remove the file and directory in the Linux
OS.
• Clear - The clear command : The clear
command does exactly what it say clear. It
clear all readout and information from the
screen.
ls, cd, pwd commands
rm command
● Echo command
● If command
● Else command
● Then command
● Break command ● Case command
Thank
You!
