The Unix shell has been around longer than most of its users have been alive. It has survived so long because it’s a power tool that allows people to do complex things with just a few keystrokes. More importantly, it helps them combine existing programs in new ways and automate repetitive tasks so they aren’t typing the same things over and over again. Use of the shell is fundamental to using a wide range of other powerful tools and computing resources (including “high-performance computing” supercomputers). These lessons will start you on a path towards using these resources effectively.
This lesson is a reformat of the standard Unix Shell lesson designed to facilitate remote delivery via Zoom. All episodes, except the first and last, start with a pre-recorded video of the material. Some episodes have been split into more than one part to give a chance to work on exercises.
Prerequisites
This lesson guides you through the basics of file systems and the shell. If you have stored files on a computer at all and recognize the word “file” and either “directory” or “folder” (two common words for the same thing), you’re ready for this lesson.
If you’re already comfortable manipulating files and directories, searching for files with
grepandfind, and writing simple loops and scripts, you probably want to explore the next lesson: shell-extras.