What you'll learn

"Why does my ~/.bashrc load sometimes, but not always?" And, "What are all these profile files?" In this course, Bash Scripting Best Practices, you’ll master Bash startup files and scripting. First, you’ll explore how Bash chooses startup files to load based on the shell type: interactive shells and login shells. Next, you’ll learn how to debug this behavior using tools like bash -x, bash -v, and even strace. Finally, discover how to write scripts that validate inputs and produce clear error messages on failures. When you’re finished with this course, you’ll understand how to configure Bash consistently across environments and apply defensive techniques in your scripts.