Scripting language

[kauty]

i am a newbie but again not really. I use ubuntu as my developing host machine for a beagle board running Linux angstrom (embedded os). I have been trying to get a good grip on script files and Make files, but i do not know what language they are written in. I know it could be an open ended question that i am asking. But what is the conventional scripting language that default script files use on your everyday ubuntu or angstrom distributions? I know they are not perl or python or ruby.

BTW, i am using the BASH shell.

Thanks all

[gerard4143]

Its probably the bash scripting language...is the first line - #! /bin/sh

[kauty]

some start with #!bin/bash

others don't. The other just starts with .SUFFIX: and some start with include ../../Rules.make or include $(TOPDIR)/config.mk

It is the little things that get me, such as the '$', ':=' and 'sinclude $(obj).depend'

I know it is pretty simple once i see a tutorial or a guide for this language or method of programming, because i can understand the over all task, but it is the details that i loose myself and focus on. That would be why i want to know what language it is. Do you understand my frustration.

I will look up the 'bash scripting language' for now and check back if you or someone else can guide me to the guide. I know bash scripting is mostly a bunch of shell commands which i can understand perfectly like batch files in DOS, but i always felt there is a bigger piece in the puzzle that is missing.
Thanks

[gerard4143]

It really depends on what your looking at..Linux has many...many different file formats, some are script files, some startup files, some configuration files, log files, Makefiles...The list is long.

I know bash scripting is mostly a bunch of shell commands which i can understand perfectly like batch files in DOS

Bash scripting is a little more than a DOS batch file..

[darkrose0510]

The shell scripts will be... shell scripts, specifically bash scripts. Here's a tutorial that should get you started:
Bash scripting Tutorial

Makefiles use make syntax, and are to simplify compilation of a program from source. Here's a Tutorial that should get you started with make:
Makefile Tutorial

[kauty]

Thanks darkrose..I am aware of what script files and bash script file now.
It was just the syntax that i was not sure where to take a shot at understanding every character, symbol and number meant.

I will read over your second link as that is what i need to educate my self on more than the bash script.

"Makefiles use make syntax, and are to simplify compilation of a program from source."

It is that make syntax that gets me. Is that a language of its own? or is it just a few bits a pieces implementations borrowed from C, bash commands etc.

[Cabhan]

Different files use different syntaxes. There are several ways to know what syntax a file uses: a file extension, a shebang line (the first line of a file, starting with "#!"), or the name of the file.

For instance, a Perl file might end with ".pl" (common on a Windows system, for instance) or ".pm" (common everywhere), or might begin with the line "#!/usr/bin/perl".

In the case of a Makefile, it is generally called Makefile, so we can identify it. Makefiles use make syntax, which is its own language.

The link that darkrose provided should give you the basics of Makefiles, and you can read the actual make manual for more information:
GNU `make'

Note that most distributed Makefiles these days are created with automake, which makes everything a lot simpler:
Automake - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)

[drl]

Hi.

A brief article covering scripting languages can be found at Scripting language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The general ideas behind make can be read in make (software) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) which discusses derivation, dependencies, and how the rules in Makefiles are similar to declarative languages as opposed to imperative languages.

Best wishes ... cheers, drl