<P> Perhaps the biggest advantage of writing a shell script is that the commands and syntax are exactly the same as those directly entered at the command - line . The programmer does not have to switch to a totally different syntax, as they would if the script were written in a different language, or if a compiled language were used . </P> <P> Often, writing a shell script is much quicker than writing the equivalent code in other programming languages . The many advantages include easy program or file selection, quick start, and interactive debugging . A shell script can be used to provide a sequencing and decision - making linkage around existing programs, and for moderately sized scripts the absence of a compilation step is an advantage . Interpretive running makes it easy to write debugging code into a script and re-run it to detect and fix bugs . Non-expert users can use scripting to tailor the behavior of programs, and shell scripting provides some limited scope for multiprocessing . </P> <P> On the other hand, shell scripting is prone to costly errors . Inadvertent typing errors such as rm - rf * / (instead of the intended rm - rf * /) are folklore in the Unix community; a single extra space converts the command from one that deletes everything in the sub-directories to one which deletes everything--and also tries to delete everything in the root directory . Similar problems can transform cp and mv into dangerous weapons, and misuse of the> redirect can delete the contents of a file . This is made more problematic by the fact that many UNIX commands differ in name by only one letter: cp, cd, dd, df, etc . </P> <P> Another significant disadvantage is the slow execution speed and the need to launch a new process for almost every shell command executed . When a script's job can be accomplished by setting up a pipeline in which efficient filter commands perform most of the work, the slowdown is mitigated, but a complex script is typically several orders of magnitude slower than a conventional compiled program that performs an equivalent task . </P>

Indicate one advantage to using the bash shell (instead of the bourne shell) to run a shell script