bash loop through list of strings

Using arrays in bash can aid readability: this array syntax allows arbitrary whitespace between words.

strings=(
    string1
    string2
    "string with spaces"
    stringN
)
for i in "${strings[@]}"; do
    echo "$i"
done

You can escape the linebreak with a backslash:

$ for i in \
> hello \
> world
> do
> echo $i
> done
hello
world
$

You may escape the newlines before/after each item that you loop over:

for i in \
    string1 \
    string2 \
    stringN
do
   printf '%s\n' "$i"
done

Or, for this simple example:

printf '%s\n' string1 string2 stringN

which has the same result.

Variation using a bash array:

strings=(
    string1
    string2
    stringN
)

printf '%s\n' "${strings[@]}"

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