UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

new to unix programming havent got a clue and have to write a program for an asignmentit goes as follows
write a program to takes 2 subdirectories as arguments say archarea and myarch, the program must look at eachfile in my area and if it does not existin archarea or is newer than the version in archarea it copies it across fro myarea
any help is greatly appreciated

We do not offer home work solutions here. As a general hint, try reading the man page for your shell. Look for the section on conditional expressions. Also see the man page on "test"

The first question I have is...

What language are you writing this program in
(C, C++, Java, Perl, Shell script)?

Based on your requirements, it seems fairly simple
and could be written as a shell script. You'll
need to know which shell you are using (ie. ksh,
sh, csh, bash).

Don't get the wrong idea about this website. It is here to help with "real world" problems, but not for homework.

However, many people here will give you "hints" as already is shown below.

One good book you need to get is "UNIX in a Nutshell".

Also, check the FAQ on the home page for other resources!

Have fun with unix. Don't be afraid of it. UNIX is your friend and so are we!!

dont get me wrong i didnt want theanswer just some pointers ive never done any programming before and in answer the shell im using is bash, but i just want help not an easy way out

Happyaf,
You havent done any proggraming yet.. I think you should understand some basic stuffs before you venture thru the Shell Programming.. I would personaly Suggest you to go here:

http://www.programmingtutorials.com/main.asp

this might help
you especially for the begginers. And i dunt think so you can get help on assignment and hints of it in here. Also you may buy some good programming language books out there in book store try " O'Reilly's ".. hope this helps you..