Minimal Unix Shell (C)

A small Unix-like shell written in C using POSIX APIs.

The goal of this project was to understand core shell mechanics rather than build a feature-complete shell.

Features

• Executing external programs with fork and execvp
• Built-in commands: cd and exit
• Command parsing into argv
• Correct parent/child process behavior
• Basic signal handling for SIGINT
• Modular code split across parsing, built-ins, and shell control flow
• Makefile-based build

Non-Features

This shell intentionally does not support:

• Pipes (|)
• I/O redirection (>, <)
• Background jobs (&)
• Job control (fg, bg)
• Advanced environment manipulation

Build and Run

make
./myshell

Why This Project Matters

This project demonstrates practical understanding of:

• Unix process creation
• fork / exec execution flow
• Built-ins versus external commands
• Signal behavior in interactive programs
• Manual parsing and memory management in C