The Work Gym

Courses / Developer tools

Linux and the shell

From first commands to reliable automation and operational diagnosis.

Start lesson 1 Practice interview Take the assessmentPractice the first unit of every course. No account needed.

60lessons

324checked exercises

12projects, cases and exams

Prepares you for Software, DevOps and data engineering interviews

Projects, case studies and mock exams

Project · IntermediateCourier intake report

Build a reproducible handoff for a courier operations lead.

6 steps · 35 min Case study · AdvancedPermissions error on deploy

Investigate a permissions error on deploy using evidence from one local workspace.

5 steps · 25 min Project · AdvancedRestricted deployment workspace

Prepare a small staging handoff without broadening file access.

6 steps · 35 min Project · ExpertArchive and restore verification

Create a records backup that you can restore and inspect.

6 steps · 35 min Case study · ExpertFull disk

Investigate a full disk using evidence from one local workspace.

5 steps · 25 min Case study · ExpertRunaway process

Investigate a runaway process using evidence from one local workspace.

5 steps · 25 min Case study · ExpertLog investigation with grep and awk

Investigate a log investigation with grep and awk using evidence from one local workspace.

5 steps · 25 min Mock exam · ExpertTimed screen: operations

Produce a checked result from original workplace evidence.

8 questions · 35 min Mock exam · ExpertTimed screen: engineering

Produce a checked result from original workplace evidence.

8 questions · 35 min

Work in a local virtual terminal with original workplace files. Start with paths, safe copies and text streams, then build pipelines, configure environments, manage permissions and write reusable Bash scripts. Investigate logs, processes and disk usage, inspect mocked HTTP services and restore archives. Each unit ends with fresh practice. Projects carry your files from one step to the next, while interview banks and timed practical screens test whether you can inspect evidence, choose an operation and deliver a checked result.

Beginner

Paths and inspection

Practice pwd and cd, ls -la, mkdir -p in realistic local tasks.

4 lessons

1Paths and the working directoryUse pwd and cd to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minFree

2Long listings and hidden filesUse ls -la to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minFree

3Nested directory treesUse mkdir -p to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minFree

Practice setPaths and inspection practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.Free

Safe file changes

Practice cp -r, mv, rm -r in realistic local tasks.

4 lessons

5Recursive copies and backupsUse cp -r to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

6File moves and precise renamesUse mv to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

7Safe recursive removalUse rm -r to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

Practice setSafe file changes practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Text and streams

Practice cat less head tail, Shell quoting, Redirects in realistic local tasks.

4 lessons

9Files, pagers and line windowsUse cat less head tail to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

10Quoting and filenames with spacesUse Shell quoting to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

11Input, overwrite and appendUse Redirects to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

Practice setText and streams practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Intermediate

Search and rewrite

Practice grep -E -i, grep -r -n, sed in realistic local tasks.

4 lessons

13Extended regular expressionsUse grep -E -i to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

14Recursive searches with source linesUse grep -r -n to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

15Text replacement without source editsUse sed to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

Practice setSearch and rewrite practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Fields and groups

Practice awk, cut and tr, sort and uniq in realistic local tasks.

4 lessons

17Field filters and conditional sumsUse awk to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

18Field extraction and case conversionUse cut and tr to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

19Sorting and duplicate groupsUse sort and uniq to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

Practice setFields and groups practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Connected tools

Practice Pipes and wc, find -exec, xargs in realistic local tasks.

5 lessons

21Pipelines, exclusions and countsUse Pipes and wc to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

22File tests and execution actionsUse find -exec to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

23Streams as command argumentsUse xargs to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

ProjectCourier intake reportBuild a reproducible handoff for a courier operations lead.With a plan

Practice setConnected tools practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Advanced

Shell configuration

Practice export, PATH, source in realistic local tasks.

4 lessons

26Variables and exported settingsUse export to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

27Executable discovery through PATHUse PATH to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

28Shell configuration and sourcingUse source to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

Practice setShell configuration practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Access and failures

Practice chmod, chown, && and || in realistic local tasks.

5 lessons

30Octal and symbolic modesUse chmod to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

31Owners and administrative changesUse chown to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

32Exit codes and conditional listsUse && and || to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

Case studyPermissions error on deployInvestigate a permissions error on deploy using evidence from one local workspace.With a plan

Practice setAccess and failures practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Script control

Practice Bash arguments, if and test, for and while in realistic local tasks.

5 lessons

35Scripts and positional argumentsUse Bash arguments to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

36File tests and if branchesUse if and test to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

37For loops and while boundariesUse for and while to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

ProjectRestricted deployment workspacePrepare a small staging handoff without broadening file access.With a plan

Practice setScript control practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Expert

Reusable automation

Practice Shell functions, case, set -euo pipefail in realistic local tasks.

5 lessons

40Reusable shell functionsUse Shell functions to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

41Case dispatch and defaultsUse case to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

42Failure propagation and strict modeUse set -euo pipefail to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

ProjectArchive and restore verificationCreate a records backup that you can restore and inspect.With a plan

Practice setReusable automation practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Operational evidence

Practice ps top kill, jobs, tail -f in realistic local tasks.

7 lessons

45Process snapshots and signalsUse ps top kill to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

46Background jobs and process IDsUse jobs to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

47Log tails and recovery evidenceUse tail -f to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

Case studyFull diskInvestigate a full disk using evidence from one local workspace.With a plan

Case studyRunaway processInvestigate a runaway process using evidence from one local workspace.With a plan

Case studyLog investigation with grep and awkInvestigate a log investigation with grep and awk using evidence from one local workspace.With a plan

Practice setOperational evidence practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan

Hosts and delivery

Practice curl, ssh, tar gzip in realistic local tasks.

9 lessons

52HTTP checks and shell failuresUse curl to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

53Remote shell contextUse ssh to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

54Compressed archives and restorationUse tar gzip to inspect or produce the requested state.4 exercises · 16 minWith a plan

Interview setEasyProduce a checked result from original workplace evidence.With a plan

Interview setMediumProduce a checked result from original workplace evidence.With a plan

Interview setHardProduce a checked result from original workplace evidence.With a plan

Mock examTimed screen: operationsProduce a checked result from original workplace evidence.With a plan

Mock examTimed screen: engineeringProduce a checked result from original workplace evidence.With a plan

Practice setHosts and delivery practiceCombine the unit's commands on fresh data without a prescribed command sequence.With a plan