how to set a variable

• var=value right (no spaces!)
• var = value wrong

var = value will try to run the program var with the arguments “=” and “value“

how to use a variable: “$var”

filename=blah.txt 
echo "$filename"

they’re case sensitive. environment variables are traditionally all-caps, like $HOME

there are no numbers, only strings

a=2   
a="2"

both of these are the string “2”

technically bash can do arithmetic, but I avoid it

always use quotes around variables

$filename="swan 1.txt"

$ cat $filename (wrong)

bash: ok, I’ll run cat swan 1.txt
2 files! oh no! we didn’t mean that!
cat: Um swan and 1.txt don’t exist…

$ cat “$filename” (right!)

bash: ok, I’ll run cat "swan 1.txt"
cat ‘“swan 1.txt”`! that’s a file! yay!

${varname}

To add a suffix to a variable like “2”, you have to use ${varname}. Here’s why:

$ zoo=panda
$ echo "$zoo2" prints "", zoo2 isn’t a variable
$ echo "${zoo}2" this prints “panda2” like we wanted