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Which OS?
Incedentally, when trying to do something under linux - the word "howto" will generally find good resources. Both those offically sanctioned, and those which are useful but obscure, are often titled as howtos or guides.
[edit added:]
Just to clarify there are a number of shell scripting languages available within linux (Bash, Csh, Ksh, and probably a handful I am missing). Bash (Bourne Again SHell) is by and large the most popular of them and the one in which 90% or so of the scripts you will see are written, therefore it is the one that will prove useful to learn, if not for its own merits then because it is relativly standard.
For compiled variations there are a number of larger differences. The syntax of C is night and day from that of Bash, it would be akin to comparing english and, i dont know, lets say Sanskrit. Additionally, with C and C++ you write the code and then compile it using gcc or g++ (or one of the other compilers available such as Intels c compiler or dist CC which does compiling over a network of machines, gcc and g++ (the GNU C Compiler) are the more standard ones). This results in a binary file which one cannot edit, you execute the binary in a manner similar to executing the shell files.
Generally C is used for large type programs where execution speed is more of an issue then difficulty in creation. Bash scripts would be utilized for smaller type jobs where speed is not necessarily and where the tools built into most unix type os'es are capible of getting the job done.
For most web type development work (including learning the tools that will help one as a system administrator) bash in more suited then C.
