Bash Hackers Wiki Frontpage
The main motivation was to provide human-readable documentation and information to not force users to read every bit of the Bash manpage - which is PITA sometimes. The docs here are not meant as newbie tutorial, more as educational summary.
What would YOU like to see here? (editable without registration)
Stranger! Feel free to register and edit the contents. The registration is only there to prevent SPAM.
Since Bash version 4 will come soon, known changes will be merged into this documentation step by step. The logo 
indicates Bash version 4 features or behaviour. There is also a small text about the interesting changes: Bash 4 - a rough overview
Scripting and general information
Scripting with style – an assorted collection of style and optic hints
Code snipplets
There is a section that holds small code snipplets.
How to....
Doing specific tasks: concepts, ways, ideas:
- Small getopts tutorial (under construction!)
Bash syntax and operations
- General:
- Expansions and substitutions:
| Introduction to expansions and substitutions | |
|---|---|
{A,B,C} {A..C} | Brace expansion |
~/ ~root/ | Tilde expansion |
$FOO ${BAR%.mp3} | Parameter expansion |
`command` $(command) | Command substitution |
<(command) >(command) | Process substitution |
$((1 + 2 + 3)) $[4 + 5 + 6] | Arithmetic expansion |
... | Word splitting |
/data/*-av/*.mp? | Pathname expansion |
- Compound commands:
| Compound commands overview | |
|---|---|
| Grouping | |
{ ...; } | command grouping |
( ... ) | command grouping in a subshell |
| Conditionals | |
[[ ... ]] | conditional expression |
if ...; then ...; fi | conditional branching |
case ... esac | pattern-based branching |
| Loops | |
for word in ...; do ...; done | classic for-loop |
for ((x=1; x<=10; x++)); do ...; done | C-style for-loop |
while ...; do ...; done | while loop |
until ...; do ...; done | until loop |
| Misc | |
(( ... )) | arithmetic evaluation |
select word in ...; do ...; done | user selections |
Command Descriptions
This is a selection of builtin commands and command-like keywords.
| A-G | |
|---|---|
| coproc | Co-processes |
| I-N | |
| let | arithmetic evaluation - an old fashioned way (Bash builtin) |
| mapfile | Mapping lines of input to an array, also named readarray (Bash builtin) |
| O-T | |
| printf | “advanced echo” (Bash builtin) |
| read | getting input from stdin (Bash builtin) |
| set | control positional parameters and shell behaviour (Bash builtin) |
| shopt | set/get shell options (Bash builtin) |
| test | the classic test command (Bash builtin) |
| U-Z | |
Dictionary
Most wanted
| Statistics for Month: May 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Rank | Views | Article |
| 1 | 1711 | Small getopts tutorial (April: 1188) |
| 2 | 1182 | The printf command (April: 904) |
| 3 | 1105 | The classic test command (April: 1191) |
| 4 | 948 | Bash 4 - a rough overview (April: –) |
| 5 | 901 | Terminal codes (ANSI/VT100) introduction (April: 491) |
| 6 | 620 | Handling positional parameters (April: 491) |
| 7 | 571 | Editing files with the ed text editor from scripts (April: 602) |
| 8 | 557 | Parameter expansion (April: –) |
| 9 | 498 | Arithmetic expressions (April: –) |
| 10 | 480 | The basics of shell scripting (April: 482) |
May total views (all wiki pages): 24819 views (April: 25875)
Links
Bash related links
- Chet Ramey's bash page and its FAQ
- Greg's wiki - Greg's wiki with massive information about Bash and UNIX® in general
lhunathis making a Bash Guide on Greg's wiki (designed for newbies)- Heiner's "Shell Dorado" - Tips, tricks, links - for every situation
Assorted Shell links
- History and development of the traditional Bourne shell family - very interesting and nice to read!
Contact
If you have critics or suggestions, please feel free to send a mail using the contact form below. If you have quick suggestions, you can also use the Wishlist (editable by everyone!).
It also would be nice to drop a line when
- it helped you
- it didn't help you (something missing / unclear)
- you like it
- you don't like it
- you found mistakes / bugs
Simply: Reader's feedback
Please also see the imprint if you have problems with the site and its contents (legality, ...)!
Visits in irc.freenode.net, channel #bash 
