Review

Title: Bash Quick Reference
Author: Arnold Robbins
Series: Short Cuts
Publication Month: June 2006 
Pages: 72
Catalog URL: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/bashqr/

bash is a shell.
It's the standard shell for Linux systems
and Mac OS X (starting with Panther).
It's also available on many other Unix systems.

This is a very good bash quick reference 
in the O'Reilly Short Cuts Series.
The O'Reilly Short Cuts Series
consists of PDFs which:
* focus on a specific topic. 
  (In this case, bash.)
* are short, usually less than 100 pages. 
  (In this case, 72 pages.)
* are easy to use. (I found it so.)


What did I expect from this PDF quick reference?

The shell I use (almost exclusively) is bash.
I've been using it for a bit more than 4 years.

I expected by reading this quick reference through  
I'd get a good review of bash.
I hoped in the process
I'd learn a few things about bash.

I also hoped I'd think 
it was worth keeping this PDF around
as a quick reference to bash.


Did I get what I expected?

Yes!

I did get a good review of bash.
And I did learn several things.

I do plan on keeping the PDF around 
as a quick reference to bash.
I'll use the quick reference 
for the few times I write a bash script
(I usually use Perl for scripts
I write for my Linux system.)
and for questions that come up
during my extensive use of bash interactively.


What did I especially like?

I especially liked:
* the cover page which includes 
  two paragraphs on the intent of the PDF
  and the table of contents.
* the clear division into sections.
* the section on Variables.

I like the whole idea of the Short Cuts Series.
I especially like that Short Cuts are (duh) short.


What did I not like?

There were a few things I didn't like,
for example:
* I wasn't clear on the difference 
  between the history file and the history list. 
* There is no index.

I also ran into a few "clerical errors".
E.g. "The Bourne shell is still be found in ..."
I don't generally care about such errors 
unless they confuse me,
and none of the errors I noticed confused me.
However, some people 
care more about such errors than I do.     


Who is this Short Cut right for?

This Short Cut would be good for
someone who uses (or will be using) bash
and wants a quick reference to bash.
As mentioned earlier,
I found it useful for reviewing bash.

This quick reference would not be good for
someone who can be characterized 
by any of the following:
* isn't using (or going to be using) bash.
* really is looking for 
  a reference to utilities that you can run from bash
  on the operating system they are running on.
* is convinced they know bash so well 
  they don't need a quick reference.
* doesn't know bash at all 
  and really wants a tutorial.

Smiley Rating: Very good. :) :) :) :) of 5.
-- George Woolley (reviewer)
2007-01-01