Bash (Unix shell)

Bash is a Unix shell and command language written by Brian Fox for the GNU Project as a free software replacement for the Bourne shell.

Description

First released in 1989, it has been distributed widely as it is a default shell on the major Linux distributions and OS X.

Bash is a command processor that typically runs in a text window, where the user types commands that cause actions. Bash can also read commands from a file, called a script.

Like all Unix shells, it supports filename globbing (wildcard matching), piping, here documents, command substitution, variables and control structures for condition-testing and iteration.

The keywords, syntax and other basic features of the language were all copied from sh. Other features, e.g., history, were copied from csh and ksh.

Bash is a POSIX shell, but with a number of extensions.

Etymology

The shell's name is an acronym for Bourne-again shell, punning on the name of the Bourne shell that it replaces and on the term "born again" that denotes spiritual rebirth in contemporary American Christianity.

See also

• Unix shell - a command-line interpreter or shell that provides a traditional Unix-like command line user interface.

External links

• Bash (Unix shell) @ Wikipedia