Programming Challenge: File Backup Script (BASH) (Jan 6, 2025)

Write a BASH script that performs a backup of a specified directory to a target location. The script should include the following functionality:

Basic Requirements:

1. Accept two arguments:
   • Source directory
   • Target backup location
2. Verify that both the source and target locations exist.
3. Create a timestamped backup folder in the target location.
4. Log the backup process, including the time taken and the number of files backed up.

Bonus Features:

• Implement compression (e.g., using tar or zip) for the backup.
• Add error handling to catch issues like missing arguments or permission errors.
• Allow for incremental backups by only copying new or modified files.

Example Usage:

./backup.sh /home/user/documents /mnt/backup

Example Output:

Backup started at: 2025-01-06 10:35:21
Backing up /home/user/documents to /mnt/backup/backup_20250106
Number of files backed up: 124
Backup completed in: 2 minutes