Pro Bash Programming, Second Edition: Scripting the GNU/Linux Shell

I am surprised by the harsh reviews. I thought the material was well organized. I am not a bash newbie. I am a seasoned sysadmin with a programming background. While I don't think the authors (this was a revised book with a second author collaborating) did the best job of demonstrating how bash could be approached as a programming language, I did feel the material covered many of the finer points of bash. The minor details of the shell language are very important. I think the book could have included more examples, but it was well written. Perhaps a third edition could be restructured so that bash is portrayed outside of a scriting glue language and portrayed as a semi-programming language (it has programming features. For example the bash shell actually has a main function that is undeclared, like a C program). Bash, in my opinion is still a glue language because it isn't efficient when used as a standalone. For example, using bash to match text in a file is a heck of a lot slower than using grep. I will agree that bash scripts can be approached logically as a C/C++ file if you organize it as such, but nothing in the languge syntax forces such a structures approach. I agree that bash scripts wouldbe easier to read and troubleshot if bash scripting was approached this way.

People have different preferences when learning a language. The author makes the point that Bash Shell programming is true programming and can accomplish a great deal. He says that he uses it exclusively, resorting to C only when he needs the speed improvement offered by the compiled language, compared with the interpreted Bash scripts (programs). He gives a great deal of information and points out many subtle traps that people often fall into. I bought the book, and I intend to learn from it---regardless. I would have wanted a different book. I'd like to have both better, more crisply written, example tasks in which to learn the functioning of many commands. I'd like a better organized and more specifically complete dictionary of all the commands that are available in this programming style. The author could say---and be correct---that it's all in this book and all I need to do is read it carefully. That's true. If it were organized a little differently, I could do that much quicker and much more palatably. The author is a gifted programmer, and the information is there. It probably contains information that is not easy to find elsewhere. On the other hand, I don't think the author is a gifted teacher.

I've been able to learn Java through textbooks so I figured bash scripting can't be much different. Not enough information is provided to make this book useful. It's overly confusing and difficult to read. If the authors were describing the unfamiliar tools of a specialized mechanic they might tell you "Croapers are Dipplers containing Trabulits. They can be used as a substitute for Horpsules. Exercise: Build an electron microscope."

In a nutshell: Not enough info. Chapters felt rushed and incomplete. Some examples are given with minimal or no explanation. Felt more like a summary of bash programming. I ended up getting more out of the "man" pages than I did from this book. Which is saying a lot, if you understand how some man pages can be. I only got about half way before I ended up moving on to another book.

There were mixed and even outright negative reviews on this book.They probably bought this book with with different expectations. Several comments on this:1. This book is not for newbies to programming. You should have tried to write scripts before in your life (whether it was Bash, Perl, Python). The title already tells you: PRO Bash Programming.2. This is not a book full of examples. One example is given and that is it.If one is in need of a book full of examples: the writer has written another book called: Shell Scripting Recipes.3. The writer is an experienced programmer and it shows. His purpose it to lead you by the hand from one topic to the next. That means that if you are looking for a quick overview of Bash, then this book is not for you.4. All the finer details of Bash are mentioned. And because everything is mentioned only once, you need to pay attention.So, for whom is this book meant? For those in need of an experienced programmer that teaches them all. I am such a person and I am therefore very satisfied with this book.