How to compare strings in Bash
Using variables in if statements
if [ "$x" = "valid" ]; then
echo "x has the value 'valid'"
fi
If you want to do something when they don't match, replace =
with !=
. You can read more about string operations and arithmetic operations in their respective documentation.
Why do we use quotes around $x
?
You want the quotes around $x
, because if it is empty, your Bash script encounters a syntax error as seen below:
if [ = "valid" ]; then
Non-standard use of ==
operator
Note that Bash allows ==
to be used for equality with [
, but this is not standard.
Use either the first case wherein the quotes around $x
are optional:
if [[ "$x" == "valid" ]]; then
or use the second case:
if [ "$x" = "valid" ]; then
Or, if you don't need an else clause:
[ "$x" == "valid" ] && echo "x has the value 'valid'"