Features of Bash Script

Nowadays, there are several shell scripting options available out there, and each one of them has its own unique features. Just like that, Bash Shell also contains some great features which make it more productive and useful. For each project, there are some specific requirements of characteristics, and developers choose the shell according to those certain characteristics. Therefore, it is an essential thing for you to know about the features of Bash Shell Scripting before you start learning it.

Some of the important features of Bash Shell Scripting are given here:

Compatibility

Bash is sh-compatible as it derives from the original UNIX Bourne shell. It is included with the best and useful features of Korn and C Shell, such as directory manipulation, job control, etc.

Invocation

In extension to the single-character shell command-line options (i.e., -a, -b, -c, -i, -l, -r, etc.), which can usually be configured using the set shell-in-command, there are several multi-character options (i.e., --debugger, --help, --login, etc.) that you can use with Bash Shell Scripting.

Bash Startup Files

Bash start-up files are scripts that are read and executed when Bash is started. Each file has its own specific use, and a collection of these files is used to help create the environment.

Interactive Shells

An interactive shell typically reads from a user's terminal and writes: Input and output are connected to a terminal. Bash interactive behavior is initiated when the bash command is invoked without the option's arguments, except when the option is to read from a string or when the shell is invited to read from standard input, which allows setting positional parameters.

Conditionals

Conditional expressions are supported and can be used by the [[ compound command and test and [ built-in commands.

Shell Arithmetic

The shell allows evaluating arithmetic expressions, as an extension of the shell or one of the let built-in.

Aliases

An alias allows a string or a set of commands to be substituted for a word that can be used easily as the single word of a compound command. It keeps a list of shell aliases that can be set and can be unset with the alias and unalias commands. It makes tasks smaller and less time-consuming.

Arrays

Bash uses one-dimensional arrays using which you can easily reference and manipulate lists of data. You can use any variable as an array. The built-in command declare is used to explicitly declare an array.

Directory Stack

The directory stack is a list that shows the recently-visited directories. The pushd built-in adds directories to the stack as it replaces the current directory, and the popd built-in removes the specified directories from the stack and changes the current directory back to the removed directory. To display the content, the dirs built-in is issued.

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