Working with arrays

An array is a list of variables. For example, we can create an array called FRUIT, which will contain the names of many fruits. The array does not have a limit on how many variables it may contain. It can contain any type of data. The first element in an array will have the index value of 0:

[student@localhost ~]$ FRUITS=(Mango Banana Apple)
[student@localhost ~]$ echo ${FRUITS[*]}
Mango Banana Apple
[student@localhost ~]$ echo $FRUITS[*]
Mango[*]
[student@localhost ~]$ echo ${FRUITS[2]}
Apple
[student@localhost ~]$ FRUITS[3]=Orange
[student@localhost ~]$ echo ${FRUITS[*]}
Mango Banana Apple Orange

Creating an array and initializing it

You will now learn about creating an array in the Bash shell.

If the array name is FRUIT, then we can create an array, as follows:

FRUIT[index]=value

Index is the integer value. It should be 0 or any positive integer value.

We can also create an array, as follows:

$ declare -a array_name$ declare -a arrayname=(value1 value2 value3)

This is an example...