Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This Nutshell Handbook® is a thorough introduction to the Korn shell, both as a user interface and as a programming language.The Korn shell, like the C and Bourne shells, is a program that interprets UNIX commands. It has many features that aren't found in other shells, including command history (the ability to recall and edit previous commands). The Korn shell is also faster; several of its features allow you to write programs that execute more quickly than their Bourne or C shell equivalents.This book provides a clear and concise explanation of the Korn shell's features. It explains ksh string operations, co-processes, signals and signal handling, and one of the worst "dark corners" of shell programming: command-line interpretation. It does this by introducing simple real-life examples and then adding options and complexity in later chapters, illustrating the way real-world script development generally proceeds. An additional (and unique) programming aid, a Korn shell debugger ( kshdb ), is also included. Learning the Korn Shell is an ideal resource for many UNIX users and programmers, including software developers who want to "prototype" their designs, system administrators who want to write tools for their own use, and even novices who just want to use some of ksh's more advanced interactive features.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• Chapter 1 Korn Shell Basics
• Chapter 2 Command-line Editing
• Chapter 3 Customizing Your Environment
• Chapter 4 Basic Shell Programming
• Chapter 5 Flow Control
• Chapter 6 Command-line Options and Typed Variables
• Chapter 7 Input/Output and Command-line Processing
• Chapter 8 Process Handling
• Chapter 9 Debugging Shell Programs
• Chapter 10 Korn Shell Administration
• Related Shells
• Reference Lists
• Obtaining Sample Programs
• Colophon

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Bill Rosenblatt is president of GiantSteps/Media Technology Strategies, a consulting firm in New York City. Before founding GiantSteps, Bill was CTO of Fathom, an online content and education company associated with Columbia University and other scholarly institutions. He has been a technology executive at McGraw-Hill and Times Mirror, and head of strategic marketing for media and publishing at Sun Microsystems. Bill was also one of the architects of the Digital Object Identifier (DOI), a standard for online content identification and DRM.