Re: status on $[arith] for eval arith vsl $((arith))??

[Chris F.A. Johnson]

On Sat, 7 Apr 2012, Linda Walsh wrote:

> In modifying some released code on my distro,    I ran into the extensive use
> of   $[arith]  as a means for returning arithmetic evaluations of the 
> expression.
>
> I vaguely remember something like that from years ago, but never see any 
> reference to
> it -- yet it works, and old code seems to rely on it -- and
> "$[(1+2)/3]"  looks cleaner than "$(((1+2)/3))".  So what's up with that?

   At the minor expense of a few extra keystrokes, $(( (1+2) / 3 ))
   looks just as clean, and has the added cachet of being portable.

--
   Chris F.A. Johnson, <http://cfajohnson.com/>
   Author:
   Pro Bash Programming: Scripting the GNU/Linux Shell (2009, Apress)
   Shell Scripting Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach (2005, Apress)