Is there a list of which features were added to specific releases (versions) of Bash?
Here are some links to official Bash documentation:
NEWS: a file tersely listing the notable changes between the current and previous versions
CHANGES: a "complete" bash change history (back to 2.0 only)
COMPAT: compatibility issues between bash3 and previous versions
A more extensive list than the one below can be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20230401195427/https://wiki.bash-hackers.org/scripting/bashchanges
Changes in the upcoming bash-5.3 release
Feature |
Copied from / Inspired by |
${ CMDS;} |
ksh93 |
${|CMDS;} |
mksh |
GLOBSORT (variable) |
zsh's o/O glob qualifiers |
local BASH_REMATCH |
|
compgen -V |
native |
read -E |
|
array_expand_once (shopt) |
|
printf %#Q %#q (${var@Q} quoting) |
zsh's q, qq, qqq, qqqq, q+, q- parameter expansion flags |
printf %l.*s %lc (character aware %s %c) |
zsh's default for %s, ksh93's %Ls/%Lc |
Notable changes in released bash versions
Feature |
Added in version |
Copied from / Inspired by |
READLINE_ARGUMENT (variable) |
5.2 (2022) |
zsh's NUMERIC variable |
varredir_close (shopt) |
5.2 (2022) |
|
printf %Q |
5.2 (2022) |
|
noexpand_translations (shopt) |
5.2 (2022) |
|
${var@k} |
5.2 (2022) |
zsh's ${(kv)var} |
${var/$pat/&}, patsub_replacement (shopt) |
5.2 (2022) |
ksh93's \0, zsh's $MATCH |
globskipdots (shopt) |
5.2 (2022) |
|
BASH_REMATCH is no longer readonly |
5.1 (2020) |
|
PROMPT_COMMAND may be an array |
5.1 (2020) |
zsh's precmd_functions array |
SRANDOM (variable) |
5.1 (2020) |
|
wait -p varname |
5.1 (2020) |
|
declare -I |
5.1 (2020) |
NetBSD sh (default behaviour in ash) |
${var@U}, ${var@u}, ${var@L}, ${var@K} |
5.1 (2020) |
zsh's U, L, C, kv parameter expansion flags, zsh/tcsh's :u, :l modifiers |
BASH_ARGV0 (variable) |
5.0 (2019) |
|
EPOCHSECONDS, EPOCHREALTIME (variables) |
5.0 (2019) |
zsh (2003, 2011) |
wait -f |
5.0 (2019) |
|
history -d allows negative offsets |
5.0 (2019) |
|
assoc_expand_once (shopt) |
5.0 (2019) |
|
localvar_inherit (shopt) |
5.0 (2019) |
|
--pretty-print (invocation option) |
5.0 (2019) |
native |
assoc=(key1 value1 key2 value2) assoc+=(key value) |
5.0 (2019) |
|
PS0 (variable) |
4.4 (2016) |
native |
loadable builtin deployment infrastructure |
4.4 (2016) |
ksh93 (1993) |
mapfile/readarray -d |
4.4 (2016) |
native |
--help for builtins |
4.4 (2016) |
ksh93 (2001, possibly earlier) |
${var@a}, ${var@A}, ${var@E}, ${var@P}, ${var@Q} |
4.4 (2016) |
mksh (2012) for the syntax, zsh (1990s) for the feature |
local - |
4.4 (2016) |
Almquist shell (1989) |
$! and wait for process substitutions |
4.4 (2016) |
native |
wait -n |
4.3 (2014) |
native |
test -R |
4.3 (2014) |
ksh93 (1993) |
test -v 'array[element]' (bug fix) |
4.3 (2014) |
ksh93 (1993) |
declare/typeset -n and associated changes to ${!ref} and for..in |
4.3 (2014) |
ksh93 (1993) |
array[-idx] (in assignments, read, unset, etc) |
4.3 (2014) |
zsh (1990s) |
printf %(fmt)T uses -1 as default argument instead of 0 |
4.3 (2011) |
ksh93 (1999) |
quotes in the replacement part of ${var/pat/"$rep"} are no longer literal |
4.3 (2011) |
|
\uXXXX and \UXXXXXXXX |
4.2 (2011) |
zsh (2001) |
declare -g |
4.2 (2011) |
zsh (1990s) |
test -v |
4.2 (2011) |
ksh93 (2009) |
printf %(fmt)T |
4.2 (2011) |
ksh93 (1999) |
${array[-idx]} and ${var:start:-len} |
4.2 (2011) |
zsh (1990s) and native |
lastpipe (shopt) |
4.2 (2011) |
ksh (1980s) default behaviour there |
read -N |
4.1 (2010) |
ksh93 (2003) |
{var}> or {var}< etc. (FD variable assignment) |
4.1 (2010) |
developed jointly with ksh93 and zsh |
syslog history (compile option) |
4.1 (2010) |
native |
complete -D (allowing dynamically loaded completions) |
4.1 (2010) |
|
BASH_XTRACEFD (variable) |
4.1 (2010) |
native |
${@:offset[:length]} includes $0 |
4.0 (2009) |
ksh |
;& and ;;& fall-throughs for case |
4.0 (2009) |
ksh93 (1993) |
associative arrays |
4.0 (2009) |
ksh93 (1993) |
&>> and |& |
4.0 (2009) |
native and csh (1970s) |
command_not_found_handle (function) |
4.0 (2009) |
native |
compopt (builtin) |
4.0 (2009) |
|
coproc (keyword) |
4.0 (2009) |
ksh (1980s), zsh (1990) for the coproc keyword |
globstar (shopt) |
4.0 (2009) |
zsh (1992), ksh93 (2005) for the name of the option |
mapfile/readarray (builtin) |
4.0 (2009) |
native |
${var,} ${var,,} ${var^} ${var^^} |
4.0 (2009) |
native |
{009..012} (leading zeros in brace expansions) |
4.0 (2009) |
zsh (1995) |
{x..y..incr} |
4.0 (2009) |
ksh93 (2005) |
read -t 0 (test input availability) |
4.0 (2009) |
|
read -t 0.5 |
4.0 (2009) |
zsh (2003) |
read -i |
4.0 (2009) |
zsh (vared) (1990s) |
x+=string array+=(string) |
3.1 (2005) |
ksh93 (2000) |
printf -v var |
3.1 (2005) |
native |
nocasematch (shopt) |
3.1 (2005) |
native |
{x..y} |
3.0 (2004) |
zsh (1995) |
${!array[@]} |
3.0 (2004) |
ksh93 (1993) |
[[ =~ |
3.0 (2004) |
native |
BASH_REMATCH |
3.0 (2004) |
native |
RETURN (trap) |
3.0 (2004) |
native |
pipefail (option) |
3.0 (2004) |
ksh93 |
failglob (shopt) |
3.0 (2004) |
native |
printf %q produces $'...' |
2.05b (2002) |
ksh93 (1993) |
[n]>&word- and [n]<&word- |
2.05b (2002) |
ksh93 |
<<< |
2.05b (2002) |
zsh (1991) |
printf %n |
2.05a (2001) |
ksh93 |
i++ |
2.04 (2000) |
ksh93 (1993) |
for ((;;)) |
2.04 (2000) |
ksh93 (1993) |
/dev/fd/N, /dev/tcp/host/port, etc. |
2.04 (2000) |
ksh93 (1993) |
read -t, -n, -d and -s |
2.04 (2000) |
ksh93 (1993) |
a=(*.txt) file expansion |
2.03 (1999) |
ksh93 (1993) |
extglob (shopt) |
2.02 (1998) |
ksh (1980s) |
[[ |
2.02 (1998) |
ksh (1980s) |
printf (builtin) |
2.02 (1998) |
ksh (1980s) |
$(< filename) |
2.02 (1998) |
ksh (1980s) |
** (exponentiation) |
2.02 (1998) |
zsh (1994) |
\xXX |
2.02 (1998) |
zsh (1994 or earlier) |
(( )) |
2.0 (1996) |
ksh (1980s) |
arrays |
2.0 (1996) |
csh (1979), zsh (1991) for array=(assignment) syntax |
$'...' (new quoting syntax) |
2.0 (1996) |
ksh93 (1993) |
List of bash releases and other notable events
Release |
Date |
bash-5.2 |
|
bash-5.1 |
|
bash-5.0 |
|
bash-4.4 |
|
Shellshock patches are released for bash-2.05b through bash-4.3 |
2014-09-24 to 2014-10-05 |
bash-4.3 |
|
bash-4.2 |
|
bash-4.1 |
|
bash-4.0 |
|
bash-3.2 |
|
bash-3.1 |
|
bash-3.0 |
|
bash-2.05b |
|
bash-2.05a |
|
bash-2.05 |
|
bash-2.04 |
http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash puts it around 2000-03-21 |
bash-2.03 |
|
bash-2.02 |
|
bash-2.01 |
|
bash-2.0 |
|
bash-1.14 |
|
bash-1.13 |
|
Looks like Chet Ramey takes over as maintainer between 1.12 and 1.13 |
|
bash-1.12 |
|
bash-1.11 |
|
bash-1.10 |
First mention found at 1991-10-07, so some time before that |
bash-1.09 |
First mention found at 1991-06-02 |
bash-1.08 |
|
bash-1.07 |
likely 1991-02-01 |
bash-1.06 |
This is a tough one. There was apparently a "bootleg" version of 1.06, so this requires more digging |
bash-1.05 |
|
bash-1.04 |
First mention found at 1989-11-07 |
bash-1.03 |
|
bash-1.02 |
First mention found at 1989-07-09 |
bash-1.01 |
|
bash-1.00 |
Hard to search for ... |
bash-0.99 |
First beta release 1989-06-07 |