String variables in Bash Scripting

Introduction

String variables let you store words or sentences to use later in your script.

To save a user's name and greet them.

To hold a file path for easy reuse.

To keep a message that you want to print multiple times.

To store command output for processing.

To build a sentence from smaller parts.

Syntax

Bash Scripting

variable_name="your text here"

Use double quotes to keep spaces and special characters intact.

No spaces around the equal sign (=) when assigning.

Examples

Stores the word Alice in the variable named 'name'.

Bash Scripting

name="Alice"

Stores a full sentence with punctuation.

Bash Scripting

greeting="Hello, world!"

Stores a file path as a string.

Bash Scripting

path="/home/user/docs"

Sample Program

This script stores a name and then creates a greeting using that name. It prints the greeting.

Bash Scripting

#!/bin/bash

name="Bob"
greeting="Hello, $name!"
echo "$greeting"

Important Notes

To use the value of a string variable, prefix it with a dollar sign ($).

Always quote variables when using them to avoid word splitting or globbing.

Variable names should only contain letters, numbers, and underscores, and cannot start with a number.

Summary

String variables store text for reuse in scripts.

Assign strings with no spaces around = and use quotes.

Use $variable_name to access the stored text.