Microsoft Windows Shell Script Programming for the Absolute Beginner (Absolute Beginner)

Rating:
Summary: Useful for Beginners.
Review: This book is suitable only for those who are complete newcomers to shell scripting in general and Microsoft systems in general.

Shell scripting is a useful skill to learn if you are a systems administrator or simply want to automate tasks. Most operating systems provide a scripting language and it is preferred in many ways to those scripting languages that have to have interpreters installed before you can use them (Python, Perl, Rebol, Tcl/tk etc) because the operating system is primed for its use.

Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and later MS operating systems offer a simple scripting language that expands on the .BAT and >CMD files language of MS-DOS, Windows 95 and 98. That language was far too limited to be of any real use, but the latest incarnation provides a powerful tool.

This book will provide a gentle introduction to Windows shell scripting at a level that is probably sufficient for the power user, but too low for the sysadmin. You can learn the elements of programming from this book, although its much easier if you already have experience.

The examples chosen are something of a compromise, but that's to be expected in any text. My real criticism comes from the presentation of the example scripts. There is too much white space and every ECHO used to produce a blank line on screen is reproduced. This makes the scripts very hard to comprehend and makes the book longer than it needs to be. All the text examples are provided on CD-ROM, so there is no need to type it in. The book is very weak in not providing useful examples for the type of user it tries to target - power users and sysadmins. They will learn very little from this.

If you want a thorough grounding in Windows shell scripting then read William Stanek's "Microsoft Windows Command-Line" published by Microsoft Press ISBN 0-7356-2038-5 and learn the full capabilities of this mode.

Rating:
Summary: Absolute Beginner for sure!
Review: While .BAT files still have uses, especially if you're still using older technology, Jscripts and VBscripts are a better starting point for absolute beginners now. But what you learn here will not go to waste if you move up. All the examples are on the accompanying CD, so you won't spend a lot of time typing.