Style guide and conventions in Bash Scripting

Introduction

Good style and conventions make your scripts easy to read and fix. They help others understand your work quickly.

When writing a script to automate daily tasks at work.

When sharing your script with teammates or the community.

When you want to avoid bugs caused by unclear code.

When maintaining or updating scripts after some time.

When learning scripting and want to build good habits.

Syntax

Bash Scripting

# Use comments to explain your code
# Use lowercase for variable names
variable_name="value"

# Use indentation for readability
if [ "$variable_name" = "value" ]; then
    echo "It matches"
fi

Comments start with # and explain what the code does.

Use lowercase letters and underscores for variable names to keep them clear.

Examples

Comments explain the purpose of the script.

Bash Scripting

# Good comment style
# This script prints a greeting
name="Alice"
echo "Hello, $name!"

Variable names describe what they hold.

Bash Scripting

# Use clear variable names
user_age=30
if [ "$user_age" -ge 18 ]; then
    echo "Adult"
fi

Indentation helps see the code structure.

Bash Scripting

# Indent inside conditions
if [ "$name" = "Bob" ]; then
    echo "Hi Bob!"
else
    echo "Who are you?"
fi

Sample Program

This script uses comments, clear variable names, and indentation to make it easy to read.

Bash Scripting

#!/bin/bash

# This script checks if a user is an adult
user_name="Charlie"
user_age=20

# Check age
if [ "$user_age" -ge 18 ]; then
    echo "$user_name is an adult."
else
    echo "$user_name is not an adult."
fi

Important Notes

Always start scripts with #!/bin/bash to specify the shell.

Keep lines short and clear for easy reading.

Use comments to explain why, not what, when the code is obvious.

Summary

Use comments to explain your script.

Choose clear, lowercase variable names with underscores.

Indent code blocks to show structure.