Introduction to Linux Shell and Shell

Scripting
If we are using any major operating system, we are indirectly interacting with the shell. While
running Ubuntu, Linux Mint, or any other Linux distribution, we are interacting with the shell by
using the terminal. In this article we will discuss Linux shells and shell scripting so before
understanding shell scripting we have to get familiar with the following terminologies:

● Kernel
● Shell
● Terminal

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 the following resources of the Linux
system –

● File management
● Process management
● I/O management
● Memory management
● Device management etc.

It is often mistaken that Linus Torvalds has developed Linux OS, but actually, he is only
responsible for the development of the Linux kernel.

Complete Linux system = Kernel + GNU system utilities and libraries + other management
scripts + installation scripts.

What is Shell?
A shell is a special user program that provides an interface for the user to use operating system
services. Shell accepts human-readable commands from users 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 when
the user logs in or starts the terminal.
Linux Shell

Shell is broadly classified into two categories –

● Command Line Shell

● Graphical shell

Command Line Shell

Shell can be accessed by users 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”, “ls” etc. and then it is being executed. The result is
then displayed on the terminal to the user. A terminal in Ubuntu 16.4 system looks like this –
linux command line

In the above screenshot “ls” command with “-l” option is executed. It will list all the files in the
current working directory in a long listing format.
Working with a command line shell is a bit difficult for beginners because it’s hard to memorize
so many commands. It is very powerful; it allows users to store commands in a file and execute
them together. This way any repetitive task can be easily automated. These files are usually
called batch files in Windows and Shell Scripts in Linux/macOS systems.

Graphical Shells

Graphical shells provide means for manipulating programs based on the 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 a good example which provides GUI to the user for interacting with the program.
Users do not need to type in commands for every action. A typical GUI in the Ubuntu system –
GUI Shell

There are several shells are available for Linux systems like –

● BASH (Bourne Again SHell) – It is the 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.
● CSH (C SHell) – The C shell’s syntax and its usage are very similar to the C
programming language.
● KSH (Korn SHell) – The Korn Shell was also the base for the POSIX Shell standard
specifications etc.

Each shell does the same job but understands different commands and provides different
built-in functions.

What is a terminal?
A program which is responsible for providing an interface to a user so that he/she can access
the shell. It basically allows users to enter commands and see the output of those commands in
a text-based interface. Large scripts that are written to automate and perform complex tasks are
executed in the terminal.

To access the terminal, simply search in search box “terminal” and double-click it.
Shell Scripting
Usually, shells are interactive, which means they accept commands as input from users and
execute them. However, sometimes we want to execute a bunch of commands routinely, so we
have to type in all commands each time in the terminal.

As a shell can also take commands as input from file, 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 similar to the batch file in MS-DOS. Each shell script is
saved with `.sh` file extension e.g., myscript.sh.
A shell script has 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.

A shell script comprises the following elements –

● Shell Keywords – if, else, break etc.

● Shell commands – cd, ls, echo, pwd, touch etc.
● Functions
● Control flow – if..then..else, case and shell loops etc.

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.

Some Advantages of shell scripts

● The command and syntax are exactly the same as those directly entered in the
command line, so programmers do not need to switch to entirely different syntax
● Writing shell scripts are much quicker
● Quick start
● Interactive debugging etc.

Some 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.

Simple demo of shell scripting using Bash Shell

If you work on a terminal, something you traverse deep down in directories. Then for coming
few directories up in path we have to execute a command like this as shown below to get to the
“python” directory:
get to the “python” directory:

It is quite frustrating, so why not we can have a utility where we just have to type the name of
directory and we can directly jump to that without executing the “cd ../” command again and
again. Save the script as “jump.sh”
# !/bin/bash

# A simple bash script to move up to desired directory

level directly

function jump()
{
# original value of Internal Field Separator
OLDIFS=$IFS

# setting field separator to "/"

IFS=/

# converting working path into array of directories

in path
# eg. /my/path/is/like/this
# into [, my, path, is, like, this]
path_arr=($PWD)

# setting IFS to original value

IFS=$OLDIFS

local pos=-1

# ${path_arr[@]} gives all the values in path_arr

for dir in "${path_arr[@]}"
do
# find the number of directories to move up to
# reach at target directory
pos=$[$pos+1]
if [ "$1" = "$dir" ];then

# length of the path_arr

dir_in_path=${#path_arr[@]}

#current working directory

cwd=$PWD
limit=$[$dir_in_path-$pos-1]
for ((i=0; i<limit; i++))
 do
cwd=$cwd/..
done
cd $cwd
break
fi
done
}

For now, we cannot execute our shell script because it does not have permissions. We have to
make it executable by typing following command –

$ chmod +x path/to/our/file/jump.sh

Now to make this available on every terminal session, we have to put this in “.bashrc” file.

“.bashrc” is a shell script that Bash shell runs whenever it is started interactively. The purpose
of a .bashrc file is to provide a place where you can set up variables, functions, and aliases,
define our prompt, and define other settings that we want to use whenever we open a new
terminal window.

Now open the terminal and type the following command:

$ echo “source ~/path/to/our/file/jump.sh”>> ~/.bashrc

Now open your terminal and try out new “jump” functionality by typing following command-

$ jump dir_name

just like the below screenshot:

jump dir_name