Simply put, a Shell Script is a program that is run by a UNIX/Linux shell. It is a file that contains a series of commands which are executed sequentially as if they were entered on the command line ...

Developing scripts to handle your more complicated tasks can make your efforts on the Linux command line considerably easier and more reliable – at least once the scripts are written and tested.

If you're not yet comfortable with writing scripts on Unix and Linux systems, this post might get you off to a healthy start.

If you are doing X11, for example, you can go low-level or pick any of a number of high-level libraries. The tutorial assumes you understand C and basic Linux programming. It has two sections, really.

It is easy to dismiss bash — the typical Linux shell program — as just a command prompt that allows scripting. Bash, however, is a full-blown programming language. I wouldn’t pres… ...