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Course

Introduction to Bash Scripting

IntermediateSkill Level

4.7+

Updated 06/2025

Bash scripting allows you to build analytics pipelines in the cloud and work with data stored across multiple files.

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ShellProgramming4 hr13 videos43 Exercises3,350 XP33,906Statement of Accomplishment

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Course Description

Bash is a concise, superfast, and robust scripting language for data and file manipulation. It’s a vital skill for building analytics pipelines in the cloud, favored by Linux users to work with data stored across multiple files.In this course, we’ll guide you through the basics of Bash scripting. We begin with an introduction to Bash script structures, including inputting arguments and outputting results. You’ll then work through data structures, such as variables and arrays, and control statements, including loops and conditionals. You’ll then put what you’ve learned into practice, by creating your own Bash functions and scheduling automated scripts to run like clockwork with cron.

Prerequisites

Introduction to Shell

1

From Command-Line to Bash Script

Introduction and refresher

Extracting scores with shell

Searching a book with shell

Your first Bash script

A simple Bash script

Shell pipelines to Bash scripts

Extract and edit using Bash scripts

Standard streams & arguments

Using arguments in Bash scripts

Using arguments with HR data

2

Variables in Bash Scripting

Basic variables in Bash

Using variables in Bash

Shell within a shell

Numeric variables in Bash

Converting Fahrenheit to Celsius

Extracting data from files

Arrays in Bash

Creating an array

Creating associative arrays

Climate calculations in Bash

3

Control Statements in Bash Scripting

IF statements

Sorting model results

Moving relevant files

FOR loops & WHILE statements

A simple FOR loop

Correcting a WHILE statement

Cleaning up a directory

CASE statements

Days of the week with CASE

Moving model results with CASE

Finishing a CASE statement

4

Functions and Automation

Basic functions in Bash

Uploading model results to the cloud

Get the current day

Arguments, return values, and scope

A percentage calculator

Sports analytics function

Summing an array

Scheduling your scripts with Cron

Analyzing a crontab schedule

Creating cronjobs

Scheduling cronjobs with crontab

Thanks and wrap up

Introduction to Bash Scripting

Course
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*4.7

from 131 reviews

78%

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Jhe Jia

about 15 hours

Nice course!

Nuong

1 day

Malgorzata

3 days

Excellent course, I recommend to everybody who deals with any Unix system and needs to process many files. I only missing practical projects on Datacamp for shell and practice exercises.

Nan

5 days

Carmela

5 days

Andrei

7 days

"Nice course!"

Jhe Jia

Nuong

"Excellent course, I recommend to everybody who deals with any Unix system and needs to process many files. I only missing practical projects on Datacamp for shell and practice exercises."

Malgorzata

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