What is Bourne Shell written in?
Bourne Shell is a command line interpreter for operating systems, first released in 1979.
Implementation
| Layer | Written in | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Runtime | C (since 1979) | Bourne shell written in C by Steve Bourne at Bell Labs |
Runtime model
The Bourne Shell runtime, written in C, manages the execution of Bourne Shell programs. Runtime-based languages rely on a host process to interpret or compile code at runtime rather than compiling entirely ahead-of-time to native machine code. This means running Bourne Shell programs requires the runtime to be present on the target system.
The choice of C for the runtime gives Bourne Shell access to native performance, established platform abstractions, and existing ecosystem libraries.
Explore in the Graph
See Bourne Shell's full lineage, including all implementation and influence relationships, in the interactive graph.
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