How to master Unix Shell Programming ?

For the 'Systems Programming and Design' subject at SLIIT, we have to learn Unix Shell Programming. Normally I like programming stuff, but from the beginning of this SPD subject I had no interest in learning that. Day by day the content I had to study increased. I had to find a solution to improve my interest towards learning this subject. 

What I realized was that I didn't like Shell Programming not because of anything, just because I was not familiar with Unix environment. Other than programming, it needs to have an understanding of the Unix platform and what its capabilities are. We use Fedora to do the shell programming so first thing I did was trying to find what these Unix, Linux and Shell Programming are. 

So I browsed internet and found that the movie 'Revolution OS' was something related to Unix and Linux. So I downloaded the movie and watched it. Since it was a documentary movie on the development of the Operating System Linux, I found it boring. Somehow I watched the whole movie and it gave me an understanding of Unix and its capabilities and usage. 

Then I tried to find a way to learn Shell Programming. I downloaded the Shell Scripting learning videos (Sinhala medium) from Kuppiya. 

After watching those video tutorials, I got a basic knowledge in Shell Programming and I understood that more than Programming, I should learn about the Unix Environment. Then I went to the library at SLIIT and found a book which is really helpful to understand Unix and Shell Programming. That is 'Unix Shell Programming by Yashavant P. Kanetkar'. 

After putting some effort, I could download the ebook also from the internet. For the last two days I was reading this book and doing the practicals. At the moment I write this post, I'm doing the exercises in the 95th page of this book. This book is really amazing. This is the first time I'm going to read a book completely and learn it. The author has clearly described the environment, giving simple to complex examples. Now I have gained the confidence and I have improved my interest towards SPD subject. I hope to get good results  for this subject from the upcoming Mid exams at SLIIT.

P.S - Nothing is impossible to learn. All what you have to do is to improve your interest towards what you are going to learn.

-Tharindu Edirisinghe-
-SLIIT 10'-