Array length in Bash Scripting - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Array length

📖 Scenario: You are working on a simple script to manage a list of fruits in your kitchen. You want to know how many different fruits you have at any time.

🎯 Goal: Build a Bash script that creates an array of fruits, sets a variable to the number of fruits in the array, and then prints that number.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create an array called fruits with exactly these values: apple, banana, cherry, date

Create a variable called count that stores the length of the fruits array

Print the value of count to show how many fruits are in the array

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Counting items in a list is common in scripts that manage files, users, or data entries.

💼 Career

Knowing how to handle arrays and their lengths is essential for writing effective Bash scripts in system administration and automation.

1

Create the fruits array

Create an array called fruits with these exact values: apple, banana, cherry, date

Bash Scripting

# Create the fruits array with the specified fruits
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use parentheses to create an array in Bash, like array=(item1 item2).

2

Set the count variable

Create a variable called count that stores the length of the fruits array using ${#fruits[@]}

Bash Scripting

fruits=(apple banana cherry date)
# Set count to the number of elements in fruits
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use ${#array[@]} to get the length of an array in Bash.

3

Print the count

Use echo to print the value of the count variable

Bash Scripting

fruits=(apple banana cherry date)
count=${#fruits[@]}
# Print the count variable
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use echo $count to display the value stored in count.

4

Run the script and see the output

Run the script and confirm it prints 4, the number of fruits in the array

Bash Scripting

fruits=(apple banana cherry date)
count=${#fruits[@]}
echo $count
# Run the script to see the output

Need a hint?

The output should be the number 4 because there are four fruits in the array.