In a Linux/Unix operating system, the function of the shell is to interpret the command output. It acts as an interface to run the commands.
The shell gets started when the user logs in or start the terminal. Shell can be accessed by user using a command line interface . A special program called Terminal in linux/mac. OS 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 execute.
Linux and Unix shell have additional features than a command Interpreter, it acts as a programming language with basic structures like conditional loops, functions, variables, etc. Shell is a powerful environment that can be used to run the commands and works also as a programming language by using the input commands and executing them.
What are the shells available in Linux?
There are several shells are available for Linux systems like – BASH (Bourne Again SHell ) – It is most widely used shell in Linux systems. It is used as default login shell in Linux systems and in mac, and os. It can also be installed on Windows OS.
This of course begs the query “Is Bash the only shell in Linux?”
No. bash is one shell. Technically Linux is not a shell but in fact the kernel, but many different shells can run on top of it (bash, tcsh, pdksh, etc.). Bash just happens to be the most common one. Show activity on this post.
Unix machines, yes, but Linux boxes, no. It’s Bash every time. That familiarity lets you get to work quickly and be effective straight away.
The cd command for changing directories is another very common Bash command. In addition to being an interactive application, Bash is also a scripting language. Your Linux OS in fact uses many Bash scripts in the startup process to initiate various processes.
What is Bash and how do I use it?
Bash is among the most popular of shell languages, known for its combination of powerful capabilities and user-friendly commands. That’s why it’s so prolific across Linux distributions. Bash operates not only on Linux, however; it’s also available on mac. OS and BSD, and you can use it on Windows through Windows Subsystem for Linux.
How to execute bash scripts in Linux?
Consider the following video example: Another way to execute bash scripts is to call bash interpreter explicitly eg. $ bash date. Sh, hence executing the script without the need to make the shell script executable and without declaring shebang directly within a shell script.