Reviews for Unix Shell Programming

1. This is my necromnicon

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, March 12th, 2010

   This book was my introduction to UNIX shell scripting (coming from an MSDOS background) and is always within arms reach of my desk. It quickly provides the powertools and framework to make stuff happen.
   
   Today after 10 years of leafing through a copy "borrowed" from a colleague, I'm going to buy my own copy as it is as relevant now as it was then.
   

2. Not great

   Rated 3 out of 5 stars, January 12th, 2010

   I have about 20 years Unix experience I really can't understand the praise that has been heaped on this book as it really is mediocre at best.
   
   There are numerous problems:
   
   - The text doesn't even mention 2 of the most useful commands - head and tail. No Unix text is really complete without including these.
   
   - Chapter 4 rather amazingly assumes knowledge of line editors! Granted if the reader is familiar with line editors learning other parts of Unix is easier, but there hasn't been any real need to learn a line editor since the birth of vi!
   
   - Interspersed throughout the text are questions in the form - what do you suppose the command/code...does? The questions are easy enough if you have read the book from start to finish but the questions often aren't even answered so are pretty useless for a novice as you can't even confirm that your answer is correct!
   
   On the plus side, the book is very readable and unlike many texts, the examples are useful and not simply contrived to demonstrate each command.
   
   I could really only recommend this book to Unix novices but even then, there are far better books around.

3. Lucid guide for beginners

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, December 12th, 2009

   I bought this years ago, learned loads from it and became a Unix SA. I'm now a developer but still use shell scripting now and again to achieve simple tasks quickly. This book teaches the reader how to understand what is happening on the unix command line. Using this knowledge you can combine unix's excellent stream based tools to perform complex tasks quickly.
   
   I still recommend this book every time I meet someone who wants to learn how to write shell scripts. It would be the one and only book I put forward, and I cannot say that for other areas of computer science.

4. Very good book

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, June 12th, 2009

   If you know how to log on to a UNIX/Linux machine and only know a few commands and would like to know more this book is for you. I say this because of the following:
   
   1) This books is easy to read and and it has examples for everything it teaches.
   2) UNIX/Linux is quirky by nature but this books explains the main quirks that trip up users new to the operating system
   3) It does the best job at explaining regular expressions I have read.
   4) It will help you understand how command line programs work with their options and parameters
   5) It will help you unlock the power of UNIX/Linux when it comes to customising your o/s
   6) The book has a comprehensive reference at the back so you can use the book to refer to specifics that you have forgotten
   7) Excellent value for money.
   
   As an IT professional I would recommend this book to everyone who want to delve into the UNIX/Linux world
   

5. All Sys Admins should own this

   Rated 5 out of 5 stars, December 12th, 2007

   I've lost count of the number of Sys Admins who have seen this book and scoffed at the awful 70's artwork on the cover, thinking that this couldn't possibly be relevant reading material for the 21st century. However, once I show them why it's such a good book, it invariably ends up living permanently away from my desk. In fact, I'm only writing this review after discovering that yet another copy of mine has wandered off permanently.
   
   You see, apart from being an incredible introduction to Unix shell scripting, it also has an easy-to-understand explanation as to how the Unix shell itself processes the commands you give it. For that reason, all Sys Admins should read this book, even if shell scripting isn't their thing. It only covers the Bourne and Korn shells, but serious Unix shell programmers wouldn't ever use anything else anyway.
   
   An essential purchase.