4.md

Chapter 2: The Variable Verse 🌌

4 - Passing values as commands line arguments

Passing Values as Command Line Arguments

Introduction

Passing values as command line arguments is a common practice in shell scripting that allows users to provide inputs to a script at the time of execution. This capability enhances the flexibility and versatility of shell scripts by enabling dynamic behavior based on user-provided parameters.

How It Works

When a shell script is executed, any additional arguments provided after the script name are treated as command line arguments. These arguments can be accessed within the script using special variables known as positional parameters.

For example, consider a script named example.sh:

#!/bin/bash

# Accessing command line arguments
echo "The first argument is: $1"
echo "The second argument is: $2"

If this script is executed with ./example.sh argument1 argument2 , it will output:

The first argument is: argument1
The second argument is: argument2

Use Cases

Passing values as command line arguments is useful in various scenarios, including:

• Providing input data or configuration parameters to the script.
• Customizing the behavior of the script based on user preferences.
• Automating tasks by allowing scripts to be run with different inputs.

Conclusion

Passing values as command line arguments is a powerful feature of shell scripting that enables interaction with scripts and customization of their behavior. By understanding how to effectively use command line arguments, you can create more versatile and user-friendly shell scripts for various tasks.

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