Difference between Korn Shell and Bash Shell

David Korn developed the Korn Shell command which is used by developers to create new shell commands. Freeware Software developed Bash Shell which is a free and open-source script and can be used by computer users. In this article, we will discuss the difference between the Korn shell and the Bash shell.

Korn Shell

Korn shell is a command for Unix operating system and David Korn has developed it under Bell Labs. A shell program is a command which runs different types of scripts by interfacing with the operating system. Korn shell is a script that can run on different types of operating systems. The Korn shell is also known as KornShell which was developed in 1983 and has its own scripting language.

It consists of C Shell and Bourne Shell. C Shell was developed by Bill Joy at the University of California. Stephen Bourne was the developer of Bourne Shell at Bell Labs. The Korn Shell developed by David Korn is better than C Shell and Bourne Shell.

History of Korn Shell

Korn shell was updated in 1986 and 1993. This update improved the performance of the Korn shell as many features were included which are as follows −

• Input and output capabilities were improved
• It also supported arrays
• Command history support is improved
• Support for shell functions and aliases is improved
• Pattern matching and substring capabilities are enhanced

Lucent and AT&T were the owners of the Korn shell in 1993 but later It became an open source software as its code was released under the Eclipse Public License. The Korn shell is used in the Unix and Linux operating systems but now many users started giving preference to Bash Shell.

Features of Korn Shell

Korn Shell comes with many features which are discussed here.

• Job Control − Korn shell helps the users to manage and manipulate running processes as it has a feature of job control.
• Advanced I/O Redirection − Advanced I/O redirection can be easily performed in the Korn shell. Users can view the output file while redirecting it.
• Command Line Editing − The command line editing feature is available in the Korn shell. So commands that are entered previously can be easily edited.
• Arithmetic Evaluation − Arithmetic evaluation is inbuilt in the Korn shell so mathematical calculations can be easily performed.
• Variables − Parameter expansion and variables are also supported by the Korn shell. It is easy to modify the variables within the shell.

Advantages of Korn Shell

Korn shell has many advantages and some of them are listed below −

• Its performance is better when scripts and commands are to be executed
• It is superior to Bash as it has more programming features
• Loop handling is good

Disadvantages of Korn Shell

Korn shell has a few disadvantages which are listed below −

• It is an old script so only a few resources are available
• Reading scripts is difficult
• The number of community followers is very small

Bash Shell

Bash Shell is also known as Bourne Again Shell which was developed by Stephen Bourne at the Freeware Software. The GNU organization provided a license to the Bash shell and now it is available for the public as it has become a free and open-source software. Syntax of other shells can be easily run on the Bash shell.

History of Bash Shell

Brian Fox created the Bash shell in 1987 to replace the original Bourne shell developed by Stephen Bourne which was developed as a GNU project. Bash shell can be used in different environments of Unix. Features from the Korn shell and C shell can also be used in the Bash shell. It comes with the feature of command line editing and a large number of built-in commands are also available.

Features of Bash Shell

Bash shell comes with many features and we will discuss them here in detail.

• Command Line Editing − Bash shell consists of powerful editing of the command line. It also consists of history, tab completion, and Vi editing features.
• Programmable Completion − Users can define custom completion functions so that commands and arguments can be navigated easily through the complex commands.
• Process Substitution − Process substitution is another great feature which helps in treating the output of a command as a file.
• Brace Expansion − Brace expansion is also supported by the Bash shell which helps users to generate a lot of file names and command arguments with the help of a single command.
• Shell Functions − Shell functions are also available in the bash shell which can be used to create and call custom functions.

Advantages of Bash Shell

Bash Shell has many advantages and some of them are listed below −

• Bash shell starts at a fast speed
• Interactive debugging is available
• A shell script can be easily written

Disadvantages of Bash Shell

Bash Shell has a few disadvantages listed below −

• Bash shell executes at a slow speed
• Bash shell consists of design and implementation flaws

Difference between Korn Shell and Bash Shell

Korn shell and Bash shell have many differences and they are given in the table below −

Conclusion

Korn Shell and Bash Shell are popular but they have a few differences. Korn shell is an old syntax and its scripts are less readable in comparison to Bash Shell. The processing speed of Korn shell commands is more than Bash shell. There are many more differences but currently, the Bash shell is used more than the Korn shell.

FAQs on Korn Shell Vs. Bash Shell

FAQ 1. Where are Korn Shell and Bash Shell used?

Korn shell is used in the old systems while Bash shell is used in the modern systems.

FAQ 2. Whose features better Korn Shell or Bash Shell?

Bash shell features are better as it has command line editing and tab completion features. Korn shell also has command line editing features but tab completion feature is not available.

FAQ 3. Which shell is backward compatible?

Bash shell is backward compatible with the Bourne shell so scripts can run easily without modifying them. Korn shell is not fully compatible with Bourne shell.

FAQ 4. What is the file extension of Korn Shell and Bash Shell?

Korn shell has the extension of. ksh and bash shell has the extension of .sh.

FAQ 5. Which command is used to print a message in Korn Shell and Bash Shell?

Print command is used in Korn shell and Echo command is used in Bash shell to print a message.