Script tuning in Bash
SCRIPT WORKOUT
In the old days, shells were capable of little more than calling external programs and executing basic, internal commands. With all the bells and whistles in the latest versions of Bash, however, you hardly need the support of external tools.
Many scripts treat Bash as if it were capable of little more than calling external programs. This is surprising, since version 2 of the default shell has a command set that covers everything from complex string manipulation, through regular expressions, to arrays; useful functions that make expensive program calls redundant. The main advantage of internal functions is that the shell does not need to spawn a new process, which saves processing time and memory. This capability can be important, particularly if you need to launch a program like grep or cut in a loop, as the completion time and memory consumption of a script can explode if you’re not careful. This article describes some simple techiques for speeding up your Bash scripts.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.
-
RingReaper Malware Poses Danger to Linux Systems
A new kind of malware exploits modern Linux kernels for I/O operations.
-
Happy Birthday, Linux
On August 25, Linux officially turns 34.
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.
-
Debian 13.0 Officially Released
After two years of development, the latest iteration of Debian is now available with plenty of under-the-hood improvements.
-
Upcoming Changes for MXLinux
MXLinux 25 has plenty in store to please all types of users.
-
A New Linux AI Assistant in Town
Newelle, a Linux AI assistant, works with different LLMs and includes document parsing and profiles.
-
Linux Kernel 6.16 Released with Minor Fixes
The latest Linux kernel doesn't really include any big-ticket features, just a lot of lines of code.