for loop (list-based) in Bash Scripting - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Output of a simple list-based for loop

What is the output of this Bash script?

Bash Scripting

for item in apple banana cherry; do
  echo $item
 done

A apple banana cherry

B

item
item
item

C

apple
banana
cherry

D Syntax error

💡 Hint

Remember that the loop runs once for each item in the list and echo prints each item on a new line.

The for loop iterates over each word in the list and echoes it. Each echo outputs on a new line.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Counting items in a list with a for loop

What is the value of the variable count after running this script?

Bash Scripting

count=0
for word in one two three four; do
  count=$((count + 1))
done
echo $count

A Syntax error

B 4

C 1

D 0

💡 Hint

The loop increments count once for each word in the list.

The loop runs 4 times, increasing count by 1 each time, so count ends at 4.

💻 Command Output

advanced

Output of nested for loops with lists

What is the output of this Bash script?

Bash Scripting

for i in 1 2; do
  for j in a b; do
    echo "$i$j"
  done
done

A

1a
1b
2a
2b

B

1 2
a b

C 1a 1b 2a 2b

D Syntax error

💡 Hint

The outer loop runs twice, and for each iteration the inner loop runs twice.

The script prints each combination of i and j on its own line: 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b.

💻 Command Output

advanced

Effect of quotes in list-based for loop

What is the output of this Bash script?

Bash Scripting

for item in "one two" three; do
  echo "$item"
done

A

"one two"
three

B

one
two
three

C Syntax error

D

one two
three

💡 Hint

Quotes group words together as a single item in the list.

The first item is the string 'one two' as one item, then 'three' as the second item.

💻 Command Output

expert

Output of for loop with command substitution and word splitting

What is the output of this Bash script?

Bash Scripting

for file in $(echo "file1.txt file2.txt"); do
  echo "$file"
done

A

file1.txt
file2.txt

B "file1.txt file2.txt"

C file1.txt file2.txt

D Syntax error

💡 Hint

Command substitution outputs a string that is split into words for the loop.

The command substitution outputs two words separated by space, so the loop runs twice.