Combining graphical editors with command-line editors when writing shell scripts

To give you an impression of how we like to combine GUI tools with command-line editors, we've given the following example workflow. Don't worry about not understanding all steps yet; at the end of the book, you should come back to this example and understand exactly what we're talking about.

When you're writing shell scripts, you normally go through a few phases:

1. Gather requirements for the shell script.
2. Design the shell script.
3. Write the shell script.
4. Test and adjust the shell script.
5. (Optional) Submit the working shell scripts to your version control system.

Phases 1 and 2 are often done without writing actual code. You think about the purpose of the script, how it could be implemented, and what is gained by creating the script. These steps often involve research and looking...