What is echo and how to use it in bash

In Bash, the echo command is used to display text or output to the terminal. It takes the text or variables as arguments and prints them to the standard output.

The basic syntax of the echo command is as follows:

echo [OPTIONS] [STRING]

Here are some common uses of the echo command:

1. Displaying text:

echo "Hello, World!"

2. Printing the value of variables:

name="John"
age=25
echo "Name: $name"
echo "Age: $age"

3. Printing multiple lines:

echo "Line 1"
echo "Line 2"

4. Escaping characters:

echo "This is a \"quoted\" text."
echo 'This is a '\''quoted'\'' text.'

The echo command also supports some options that modify its behavior:

• -n: Suppresses the trailing newline character.
• -e: Enables interpretation of backslash escapes, allowing special characters to be displayed (e.g., \n for a new line).
• -E: Disables interpretation of backslash escapes.

Here are a few examples of using options with echo:

echo -n "This line is printed without a newline"
echo -e "This line\nis printed on two lines"
echo -E "This line\nis printed as it is"

It’s important to note that the behavior of echo may vary slightly between different systems or shells. If you require more advanced formatting or features, you may consider using printf instead, which offers more flexibility.

Overall, the echo command is a simple and frequently used command in Bash scripting for displaying text or variable values to the terminal output.