Variable Types: What Shell Variables Are

Shell variables are strings. Always. Even numbers are strings.

Here's the thing: Everything is a string in shell. Numbers are strings. Learn to work with that.

Strings: The Default

name="John"
message="Hello, World!"

My take: Strings are default. Use quotes. Always.

count=10
price=99.99

My take: Numbers are strings. But you can do math with them.

fruits=("apple" "banana" "orange")

My take: Arrays are collections. We'll cover them later.

name="John"
echo "Hello, $name"

My take: Strings are simple. Use quotes. Use $ to expand.

count=10
next=$((count + 1))

My take: Use $((...)) for math. It converts strings to numbers.

first="Hello"
second="World"
combined="$first $second"

a=10
b=5
sum=$((a + b))

Now that you understand types, let's talk about Special Variables that shell provides.

Personal note: I used to fight with types. Then I learned: everything is a string. Now I work with it. It's simpler than I thought.