How to capitalize Bash and shell script variable?
Bash and shell script variable capitalization?
In Bash and other shell scripts, variable names are case-sensitive. This means that myVariable
and MYVARIABLE
are two distinct variables.
By convention, variable names in Bash are written in lowercase or with underscores (_) to separate words. The use of uppercase letters is generally avoided, except in a few cases. Here are some guidelines for capitalization in Bash variable names:
- Use lowercase letters for most variable names.
- Use underscores (_) to separate multiple words in a variable name.
- Use uppercase letters for global variables, which are variables that are used throughout a script or multiple scripts.
- Use uppercase letters for Bash built-in variables, such as
$HOME
,$PATH
, and$IFS
.
Here are some examples:
#!/bin/bash
# lowercase variable
myvar="hello"
# lowercase variable with underscores
my_var="world"
# global variable (uppercase)
MY_GLOBAL_VAR="hello world"
# Bash built-in variable (uppercase)
echo "My home directory is $HOME"
It's generally a good idea to follow these naming conventions to make your code more readable and easier to understand, both for yourself and others who may read it later.
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