What a shell script is in Bash Scripting - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding the purpose of a shell script

What is the main purpose of a shell script?

A To automate tasks by running a series of commands in sequence

B To compile source code into executable programs

C To create graphical user interfaces for applications

D To store data in a structured database format

💡 Hint

Think about what you want to do when you repeat many commands often.

A shell script is a text file containing commands that the shell can execute in order. It helps automate repetitive tasks.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Output of a simple shell script

What will be the output when running this shell script? #!/bin/bash echo "Hello, friend!"

Bash Scripting

#!/bin/bash
 echo "Hello, friend!"

A Error: command not found

B hello, friend!

C HELLO, FRIEND!

D Hello, friend!

💡 Hint

Look at the exact text inside the echo command.

The echo command prints exactly what is inside the quotes, preserving case and punctuation.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Identifying a syntax error in a shell script

Which option contains a syntax error in this shell script snippet? for i in 1 2 3 do echo $i done

Bash Scripting

for i in 1 2 3
 do
 echo $i
 done

A for i in 1 2 3; do echo $i; done

B for i in 1 2 3 do echo $i done

C

for i in 1 2 3
do echo $i
done

D for i in 1 2 3; do echo $i done

💡 Hint

Check where semicolons or newlines are needed to separate commands.

Option B misses the semicolon or newline after '3' and before 'do', causing a syntax error.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this shell script fail to run?

This shell script is saved as 'myscript.sh' but fails to run with './myscript.sh'. What is the likely reason? #!/bin/bash echo "Running script"

A The script file does not have execute permission

B The shebang line is incorrect

C The echo command is misspelled

D The script must be run with 'bash myscript.sh' only

💡 Hint

Check the file permissions with 'ls -l'.

If the script file lacks execute permission, running './myscript.sh' will fail. Adding execute permission fixes this.

🚀 Application

expert

Determining the output of a shell script with variables and conditionals

What is the output of this shell script? #!/bin/bash x=5 if [ $x -gt 3 ]; then echo "Greater" else echo "Smaller" fi

Bash Scripting

#!/bin/bash
 x=5
 if [ $x -gt 3 ]; then
   echo "Greater"
 else
   echo "Smaller"
 fi

A Syntax error

B Smaller

C Greater

D No output

💡 Hint

Check the value of x and the condition in the if statement.

Since x is 5, which is greater than 3, the script prints 'Greater'.