Skip to content
UdemyBestseller on UdemyLinuxPaid courseAll LevelsCertificate

Bash Scripting and Shell Programming (Linux Command Line) (Udemy.com)

Learn bash programming for Linux, Unix, & Mac. Learn how to write bash scripts like a pro & solve real-world problems!

Created by: Jason Cannon

Last updated September 2026

Our take

Based on the ratings of 23,031 students, a sample of their written reviews and the syllabus, as the course stood in September 2026. No course pays to be reviewed.

Jason Cannon has been a Unix and Linux engineer since the late 1990s, and this course is his compressed version of that experience: 34 lectures, 8 quizzes, and a downloadable script template built to stop beginners from guessing what belongs in every bash script. At 2.6 hours it covers exit codes, functions, wildcards, case statements, while loops, debugging, and a chunk of sed, aimed at people who already touch a terminal but have never written a script on purpose.

Reviewers like the pace: several call it clear, slow, and easy to follow, and the course also ships a checklist and boilerplate template meant to remove guesswork from every script someone writes. The complaints cluster in two places. A handful of one and two star reviews say it is not beginner friendly despite the All Levels label, and one reviewer wanted find, grep, and awk covered since those show up in almost every real script. Another flagged slides that are text-heavy and hard to follow while listening at the same time.

At 22,988 reviews and a 4.6 rating, the course clearly does what it sets out to do for its target audience, and Cannon refreshed it as recently as September 2026. It is not a substitute for a full Linux fundamentals course, and it will not teach someone the command line from zero. Think of it as a focused add-on once someone can already navigate a shell and wants to start automating things with scripts instead of typing commands by hand every time.

Best forPeople who know their way around a terminal and want to write real bash scripts fast.
Skip it ifTotal command line newcomers, or anyone who needs grep, awk, and find covered too.

Pros

  • Includes a reusable shell script checklist and boilerplate template
  • Downloadable real-world scripts from Cannon's own collection to experiment with
  • Reviewers repeatedly call the pacing clear and easy to follow
  • Eight quizzes spread across the course reinforce key concepts

Cons

  • Only 2.6 hours, thin for anyone wanting deep practice time
  • Does not cover grep, awk, or find, tools scripters use constantly
  • One reviewer found the slides text-heavy and hard to follow along with
The course is clear and concise overview of using bash scripting.
David Friedberg, a student

Listed as All Levels, but it suits people with some command line comfort, not total beginners to Linux.

icon
What you will learn

  • Write shell scripts that can be used on Linux, Mac, and Unix operating systems.
  • Automate tasks using shell scripts.
  • Create complex scripts that take advantage of advanced bash shell features.

Course content

14 sections · 34 lectures · 2.6 hours of video 8 quizzes, 11 articles

  1. 1Bash Programming Course Overview and Downloads 1 free preview2 lectures · 3 min
  2. 2Shell Scripting in a Nutshell4 lectures · 1 quiz · 18 min
  3. 3Return Codes and Exit Statuses 1 free preview3 lectures · 1 quiz · 15 min
  4. 4Shell Functions3 lectures · 1 quiz · 13 min
  5. 5Shell Script Checklist and Template2 lectures · 2 min
  6. 6Wildcards6 lectures · 1 quiz · 21 min
  7. 7Case Statements and Logic2 lectures · 1 quiz · 6 min
  8. 8Logging2 lectures · 1 quiz · 8 min
  9. 9While Loops3 lectures · 1 quiz · 13 min
  10. 10Debugging Your Bash Programs3 lectures · 1 quiz · 20 min

Who it is for

The instructor says it suits

  • Anyone interested in shell scripting or shell programming.

What you need before you start

  • Some knowledge of the command line would be helpful, but not required.

How it compares

Against the other 124 rated Udemy courses in Linux on CourseDuck:

  • Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 73% of them
  • Reviews23,031#5 of 125 by number of reviews
  • Length2.6 hoursshorter than 81% of them
  • Last updatedSeptember 2026more recently than 83% of them

icon
Course Description

JOIN THE THOUSANDS OF SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS WHO HAVE ALREADY MASTERED BASH PROGRAMMING AND THE LINUX OPERATING SYSTEM WITH ONE OF MY TOP RATED COURSES!

If you want to learn how to write bash shell scripts like a pro, solve real-world problems, or automate repetitive and complex tasks, read on.

Hello. My name is Jason Cannon and I'm the author of Linux for Beginners, Python Programming for Beginners, and the founder of the Linux Training Academy. I started my IT career in the late 1990's as a Unix and Linux System Engineer and I'll be sharing my real-world bash scripting and shell programming experience with you throughout this course.

By the end of this course you will be able to create bash scripts with ease. You'll learn how to take tedious and repetitious tasks and turn them into programs that will save you time and simplify your life on Linux, Unix, or MAC systems.

____________________

Here is what you will get and learn by taking this Bash Scripting course:

  • A step-by-step process of writing bash shell scripts that solve real-world problems.

  • The #1 thing you must do every time you create a bash script.

  • How to quickly find and fix the most common shell scripting errors.

  • For those of you who want to start programming right away, watch the two video shell scripting crash course. If you do nothing else than watch these two videos you'll be ahead of most bash programmers.

  • How to accept input from a user and then make decisions on that input.

  • How to accept and process command line arguments.

  • What special variables are available, how to use them in your shell scripts, and when to do so.

  • A shell script creation check list -- You'll never have to guess what to include in each of your shell scripts again. Just use this simple check list.

  • A shell script template (boilerplate). Use this format for each of your shell scripts. It shows exactly what to include and where everything goes. Eliminate guesswork!

  • Practice exercises with solutions so you can start using what you learn right away.

  • Real-world examples of shell scripts from my personal collection.

  • A download that contains the scripts used in the presentations and lessons. You'll be able to look at and experiment with everything you're learning.

  • Quizzes after each section just to make sure you're learning the most important aspects of shell scripting.

Learn to Program Using Any Shell

What you learn in this course can be applied to any shell, however the focus is on the bash shell and you'll learn some really advanced bash features. Again, whether you're using bash, bourne (sh), KornShell (ksh), C shell (csh), Z shell (zsh), or even the tcsh shell, you'll be able to put what you learn in this course to good use.

Perfect for Linux, Unix, Mac and More!

Also, you'll be able to use these scripts on any Linux environment including Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint, RedHat, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Slackware, Kali Linux and more. You're scripts will even run on other operating systems such as Apple's Mac OS X, Oracle's Solaris, IBM's AIX, HP's HP-UX, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. (Sorry, this course is NOT for Windows scripting or powershell scripting.)

Here's What People Are Saying About Jason and His Courses:

"Another amazing course by Jason Cannon. This course helped propel my bash scripting to a whole new level. Now, I can't stop automating my work flow! :) Pretty soon everything will do everything itself." --Fernando Garcia, Udemy Student

"Excellent course on Linux! It is the best way to get started using Linux that I have come across." --Chris Bischoff, Udemy student

"This class was a great review of the 2 Linux classes I took in school. I learned plenty of new stuff and got a great refresher on things I haven't used in some time. I did well on my interview and got the job I was looking for. Thanks!" --Alan Derrick, Udemy student


"This was a great course! Learned a lot from it!" --Ricardo José Crosara Junior, Udemy student
"Excellent starter course. Very good and complete guide to get you started on working on Linux." --Brian Mulder, Udemy student

"Great course! Easy to understand for beginners and a great refresher for experienced users!" --Spencer Ball, Udemy student

"Very well laid out course. Thanks Jason!" --Eric Etheredge, Udemy student

"Love it... it's absolutely one of the best courses I've taken here on Udemy." --Idriss N, Udemy student

"Awesome Course! Another great one. Thanks Jason!" --John Wilmont, Udemy student

"Excellent Course! Having come from a moderate understanding of Linux, this course has given me a deeper and more streamlined understanding of Linux. Definitely worth the money." --Armando Cabrera, Udemy student

"Fantastic course and very beautifully explained." --S John, Udemy student

"Great course, great instructor. I enjoyed every minute of it. I recommend this course 100%." --Alfredo, Udemy student

"I am lovin' it. Nice way to begin one's journey into Linux." --Rohit Gupta, Udemy student

____________________

Downloads of All the Material Covered

When you enroll in this Bash Scripting video training course, you'll receive access to all the slides and shell scripts used in the lessons. You can download them and refer to them when you want to jog your memory or double-check your work.

Enroll now and to learn how to write bash shell scripts like a pro!

icon
Udemy Discount

The discount is applied through our link. Open the course from here and Udemy's current promotional price is applied at checkout on most courses, no code to type.

Some courses are excluded from Udemy's promotions. If the price does not drop, clear your browser cookies and use the button again.

icon
Instructor Details

Jason Cannon

Jason started his career as a Unix and Linux System Engineer in 1999. Since then, he has utilized his Linux skills at companies such as Xerox, UPS, Hewlett-Packard, and Amazon. Additionally, he has acted as a technical consultant and independent contractor for small businesses and Fortune 500 companies.

Jason has professional experience with RedHat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, Ubuntu, and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server. He has used several Linux distributions on personal projects, including Debian, Slackware, Arch Linux, CrunchBang, Raspberry Pi OS, and others. In addition to Linux, Jason has experience supporting proprietary Unix operating systems, including AIX, HP-UX, and Solaris.

He enjoys teaching others how to use and exploit the power of the Linux operating system. He is also the author of the books "Linux for Beginners," "Command Line Kung Fu," and "Docker: A Project-Based Approach to Learning."

icon
More courses by Jason Cannon

$109.99

$139.99

$24.99

$149.99

$19.99

$11.99

icon
More Linux courses

$69.99

$24.99

$109.99

$16.99

$16.99

$119.99

icon
Reviews

4.6

23,031 ratings on Udemy

Select a bar to show only those reviews.Select the bar again to show every rating.

By Michal Sobotka on 8/24/2026

very nice examples explaining the theory. all materials shared at the end of the course.

By Arnav Mathur on 6/6/2026

Everything is taught with clarity and in a slow manner which anyone can grasp. The several examples provided make it much more better!

By Thejaswini S on 5/24/2026

Good and excellent explanative course with examples and practise exercies to re-inforce learning. I receommend this course to anyone who is new to shell scripting and want to start and get upto speed soon!

By Alejandro Canales Gonzalez on 4/15/2026

Me gustaría más tiempo para ver las diapositivas. O escucho o las veo. 3 segundos en silencio al final para mirarla funcionaría.

By Jacob Brenkus on 2/11/2026

Detailed course with nice examples that help get a feel for bash scripting. Some extra detail about certain syntax things would be extra helpful, but there are easy to find syntax references across the web.

By Emanuele Colonnelli on 2/10/2026

Good and easy to watch, it covers enough to be productive in bash scripting. It must be integrated with a solid knowledge of Linux OS to be 100% useful.

By Kenneth Andrew Whitten on 1/5/2026

Jason C does a great job. I recommend buying his books they are invaluable as a reference and for the courses.

By Lilith Green on 12/24/2025

Great intro to bash scripting for a complete novice, would have loved more practice exercises at the end to really consolidate what I learned

By Jordan Hall on 10/29/2025

This course gave all the essential details necessary to get started with my own scripts! I would have loved to see awk in action, but other than that, great course.

By Anonymized User on 10/19/2025

This was a perfectly succinct overview of bash scripting. I have some background with it and I am very experienced with powershell and .net programing but there were a lot of things about bash that confused me until I watched this.

By Mudit Potdar on 12/27/2020

programs must be shown and demonstrated once

By David Labrie on 12/27/2020

Great quick course to understand shell scripting

Showing 12 of 303 reviews

icon
Quality Score

No CourseDuck member has rated this course yet. Taken it? Give each part a thumbs up or down.

Content Quality
/
Video Quality
/
Qualified Instructor
/
Course Pace
/
Course Depth & Coverage
/

Overall Score : 92 / 100