Can you do a comparison in a variable assignment in bash?

Question

In PHP, I can assign a variable like this:

$a = ($b == $c) ? $x : $y;

Which assigns to $a the value $x iff $b == $c, and $y otherwise. Is there a way to do this natively in bash?

I am aware that it is possible using a conventional if statement, or using a subshell with echo, but I was hoping there might be a simple way to do it. Writing a 6-line if statement or using a subshell seems like a lot for such a basic operation.

chepner · Accepted Answer · 2013-05-09 12:19:07Z

3

[[ $b = $c ]] && a="$x" || a="$y"

edited May 9, 2013 at 12:19

chepner

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answered May 9, 2013 at 10:17

Georgemc

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2 Comments

Benubird Over a year ago

It also seems to work with single [, any reason [[ is better?

glenn jackman Over a year ago

the main advantage, in my view, is that [ is more fragile regarding empty values when you don't quote variables. example: b=5; c=; [[ $b != $c ]] && echo ok; [ $b != $c ] && echo ok

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