This course offers a hands-on introduction to creating scripts in the UNIX shell, or command line environment. These scripts are used on all UNIX systems for system administration work, repetitive tasks, or just to automate a long series of steps.
This course is the first in a two-part series. Basic UNIX Shell Programming assumes you are new to shell programming, but you should be familiar with basic UNIX concepts. If you have used a UNIX command line, that’s even better.
It’s assumed that you’re familiar with common UNIX tasks such as logging in , moving around the filesystem from a command line, and entering common UNIX commands. In this course you will build on those concepts to create your own shell programs. This course actually gives you access to a UNIX system, so you can immediately apply the skills you learn.

After completing the course, you will be able to:

1. Define a shell program and how it interacts with your UNIX system
2. List the components that make up all shell scripts
3. Describe the differences between popular shells
4. Use different types of shell variables to hold data values
5. Create coherent script objectives and designs
6. Read and write files from within a script
7. Define appropriate tests for conditions in a script
8. Use different looping operations to control script flow
9. Redirect input and output to control how data is handled in a script

Creating Basic UNIX Shell Scripts is the first of two courses in the UNIX Shell Programming series.
In the next lesson, we will examine the course prerequisites.