Editing Shell script (section)

==Life cycle==
Shell scripts often serve as an initial stage in software development, and are often subject to conversion later to a different underlying implementation, most commonly being converted to [[Perl]], [[Python (programming language)|Python]], or [[C (programming language)|C]]. The [[interpreter directive]] allows the implementation detail to be fully hidden inside the script, rather than being exposed as a filename extension, and provides for seamless reimplementation in different languages with no impact on end users.

While files with the ".sh" [[file extension]] are usually a shell script of some kind, most shell scripts do not have any filename extension.<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Robbins |first1=Arnold |last2=Hannah |first2=Elbert |last3=Lamb |first3=Linda
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J5nKVVg5YHAC |title=Learning the vi and Vim Editors
|date=2008
|page=205
|publisher="O'Reilly Media, Inc." |isbn=9781449313258 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
|last=Easttom |first=Chuck
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zZYLAAAAQBAJ |title=Essential Linux Administration:: A Comprehensive Guide for Beginners
|date=2012
|page=228
|publisher=Course Technology/Cengage Learning
|isbn=978-1435459571
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| title = Linux Shell Scripting Essentials
| last = Kumari
| first = Sinny
| quote = Rather than using a file extension for shell scripts, it's preferred to keep a filename without extension and let an interpreter identify the type by looking into shebang(#!).
| publisher = Packt Publishing Ltd
| date = November 23, 2015
| isbn = 9781783552375
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9vCoCwAAQBAJ&q=shell+script+file+extension&pg=PA2
| access-date = May 7, 2017
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
| title = Wicked Cool Shell Scripts, 2nd Edition: 101 Scripts for Linux, OS X and UNIX Systems
| last1 = Taylor
| first1 = Dave
| last2 = Perry
| first2 = Brandon
| publisher = No Starch Press
| date = December 16, 2016
| isbn = 9781593276027
| quote = Shell scripts don't need a special file extension, so leave the extension blank (or you can add the extension .sh if you prefer, but this isn't required.
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Mpi7DQAAQBAJ&q=shell+script+file+extension&pg=PA5
| access-date = May 7, 2017
}}</ref>