A Rookie-Friendly C Shell Tutorial for Linux Enthusiasts

If you have ever tried working with the Linux operating system, you are familiar with the term shell. Bourne shell, C shell, Korn shell… There are multiple types you can choose from. In its essence, a shell is a powerful interpreter, an environment that responds as you type in certain commands and can run other programs or complete other vital actions. 

By creating shell scripts, you can plan a whole list of actions in advance. But first, it’s important to know that the way you write your input can vary greatly depending on the exact type of shell you are using: each one has its own set of functions and commands you can use for shell scripting. In this C shell tutorial, you will get to know the C shell in great depth and understand how you can write C shell scripts to make the most out of your operating system.

Why pick the C shell?

Before we dive into our C shell tutorial, we should learn a little backstory, right? The C shell was first created over forty years ago and introduced as a part of one of the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) releases. Its creator, a UCL Berkeley graduate student Bill Joy later became a co-founder of the Sun Microsystems, and was inducted into the Computer History Museum in California!

The C shell was made to be more interactive than the Bourne shell. Writing C shell scripts was made quicker and easier by introducing history, path hashing, editing operators, and other handy features. Later, these have actually been copied by multiple other Unix shells! Due to similar syntax and keywords, C shell scripts were easier to read and write to those who were already familiar with the C programming language. On the other hand, knowing how to work with the C shell can be a great first step into learning C-based programming languages, such as C, C#, C++, and so on.

Save time with a rookie-friendly C shell tutorial!

While there’s a lot of resources online for learning Bourne shell scripting, it’s a bit harder to find reliable materials on writing C shell scripts. If you have encountered the same issue, worry no more! In this online course, you will find 55 useful video lectures explaining various components of C shell scripting, including but not limited to operators, commands and variables. We will cover all the fundamentals you need to start working with the C shell and writing your own shell scripts.

The lectures are created and presented by Sujata Biswas – an IT trainer with decades of teaching experience. Sujata is also the author of multiple educational books, including Linux: A Quick Learning Guide, Understanding NFS: Network File System on Linux, and Learning C Shell Scripting Gently. The last one could be a great addition to the course if you decide you need to strengthen your shell scripting skills even further!

Mastering the C shell will come in handy for any developer working with the Linux operating system. Dedicate a few hours to learning it today, and advance your career tomorrow!