Linux Vs. Windows

Linux and Windows have their own native programming tools that are supplied with their respective operating systems. Linux is more of a programmer's operating system which was developed to allow a Unix based OS to run on PC hardware. In general, Linux offers more out-of-the-box programming capabilities then Windows like the scripting languages Perl, awk, PHP, and tcl, the GCC development tool, and computing shells.

Perl is a popular scripting language for system administrators. Perl does not need to be compiled, but is interpreted directly. While Windows requires a C compiler or a binary distribution like ActivePerl to execute, Perl is already installed in most Linux distributions.

awk is a computer language that is used to process files. awk was created by Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan (first letters of last name makes up the name 'awk') for the Unix system. awk scripts need to contain the header "#!/usr/bin/awk -f". Many Linux OSs also include the gawk program (GNU awk) which is also free.

PHP is a computer language used for general scripting and for creating dynamic web pages. Most Linux operating systems come with PHP while Windows needs the binaries downloaded and installed.

tcl is also known as Tool Command Language and was developed as a scripting language by John Ousterhout. tcl is used more for "quick and dirty" applications and can its source code can be run directly from Linux.

The GCC is the GNU C and C++ Compiler that is distributed freely with most Linux operating systems. GCC can compile C, C++, and Objective-C languages. Windows requires a C compiler to be installed which usually must be purchased. This is a great cost benefit for software developers who program in these languages.

An operating system shell is an interface that allows the user to access the services of the kernel. The interface can be either graphical or command line and is an integral part of operating systems like Microsoft and Linux. Shells can be used for anything ranging from simple listings of directories, to launching applications and programs. The shell is responsible for interpreting the commands from the user or program and sending them to the OS kernel for execution.

Linux offers several shells to access the kernel like bash, csh, ksh, and sh. Each has its own scripting commands and programming capabilities.

bash stands for "Bourne Again Shell". bash is the default shell for many Linux OSs. bash was created in 1987 by Brian Fox and is not restricted to only Linux machines. It also can be run on most Unix operating systems as well as MAC OS X, Windows (with an emulator), and DOS. Bash commands are a derivative of the Bourne shell.

csh stands for