How do you run multiple programs in parallel from a bash script?

Question

I am trying to write a .sh file that runs many programs simultaneously

I tried this

prog1  prog2 

But that runs prog1 then waits until prog1 ends and then starts prog2...

So how can I run them in parallel?

Answer 1

How about:

prog1 & prog2 && fg 

This will:

1. Start prog1.
2. Send it to background, but keep printing its output.
3. Start prog2, and keep it in foreground, so you can close it with ctrl-c.
4. When you close prog2, you'll return to prog1's foreground, so you can also close it with ctrl-c.