### 2.3 Shell Commands

If you need to execute occasional shell commands during your debugging session, there is no need to leave or suspend gdb; you can just use the `shell` command.

`shell` command-string
`!`command-string
  Invoke a standard shell to execute command-string. Note that no space is needed between `!` and command-string. If it exists, the environment variable `SHELL` determines which shell to run. Otherwise gdb uses the default shell (`/bin/sh` on Unix systems, `COMMAND.COM` on MS-DOS, etc.).

The utility `make` is often needed in development environments. You do not have to use the `shell` command for this purpose in gdb:

`make` make-args
  Execute the `make` program with the specified arguments. This is equivalent to ‘`shell make make-args`’.