Learning the Korn Shell

by Bill Rosenblatt

This Nutshell Handbook® 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 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.

Genres: Computers, Technology, Technical, Nonfiction, Programming

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many happy hours being paid to write ksh programs and utilities over the years, with this trusty tome by my side to illuminate the way. If you need to write ksh you need look no further.

[Bernie4444 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning the Korn Shell (2nd Edition)

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 preferred supported shell is the Korn shell; even sh is linked to ksh93. Several times I came across unexplainable anomalies; sometimes paths would be absolute and at other times they would follow links. Traps seemed to work a tad differently 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

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been programming Korn shell scripts for a year and decided I needed a formal training on this subject. There are many internet courses or tutorials on this topic but none of them beats the contents of this book and its very clear and precise - but not abusively long - explanations.

Authors cut to the chase, without adorning text with less objective text. It goes step by step from start to the more advanced tasks painless.

Mandatory.

[Islefaye · Rating 3 out of 5]

very helpful once upon a time