Once you grasp the taste of Linux/UNIX systems, the desire will come to do more than just lining up a sequence of commands. Scripting is the next step to go.
The shell is a command interpreter: your personal butler in the system. But it also is a full blown programming language, that allows entirely new commands to be constructed. Therefore, this shell programming language is a key ingredient of this course.
Apart from the shell, two more programmable utility programs will be covered. First the stream editor sed, capable of editing textual data as they flow by in a batch-like data pipe line. Then the programmable report generator awk, that allows for very complex operations on textual data, including the production of well-formatted output reports.
A few more smaller utility programs are part of this course as well.
Basic knowledge of the Linux/UNIX user level command repertoire, and some experience in using these commands. Knowledge of the I/O redirection mechanisms, file path naming conventions, and the file name wild card notation. Basic knowledge of the regular expression language.
