I've read the whole thing at one point in time. I was an embedded programmer for years, and the availability of bash, and the lack of python/ruby/whatever made it pretty much a necessity.
Once you grok it, it is a pretty excellent tool for testing, monitoring, coordinated pieces, etc. Besides Solaris, I can typically sit down at any type of machine or embedded device and write a fairly non-trivial script without having to ask, "what version of python is installed?" or "is it hooked up to the outside world, so I can install these libraries?".
There's power in availability and commonality even if you give up some readability.
Comments
has anyone gone through the entire book/guide, and i wonder is it because of your job and what other technologies you have to know in-depth
I use it more as a reference / scan it for inspiration when I'm stuck. Way better than the bash man page...
I use it like I use 'perldoc perl' or http://docs.python.org/ or https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.3/ or https://developer.mozilla.org/en/JavaScript/Guide or http://docs.jquery.com/Main_Page or http://www.dpawson.co.uk/xsl/sect2/sect21.html etc.
I've read the whole thing at one point in time. I was an embedded programmer for years, and the availability of bash, and the lack of python/ruby/whatever made it pretty much a necessity.
Once you grok it, it is a pretty excellent tool for testing, monitoring, coordinated pieces, etc. Besides Solaris, I can typically sit down at any type of machine or embedded device and write a fairly non-trivial script without having to ask, "what version of python is installed?" or "is it hooked up to the outside world, so I can install these libraries?".
There's power in availability and commonality even if you give up some readability.