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== Why is $(...) preferred over `` (backticks)? == == Why is $(...) preferred over `...` (backticks)? ==
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 * Newbies who see {{{$()}}} don't normally press the wrong keys. On the other hand, newbie who see {{{`cmd`}}} often mangle it into {{{'cmd'}}} because they don't know what a backtick is.  * Newbies who see {{{$()}}} don't normally press the wrong keys. On the other hand, newbies who see {{{`cmd`}}} often mangle it into {{{'cmd'}}} because they don't know what a backtick is.

Anchor(faq82)

Why is $(...) preferred over `...` (backticks)?

For several reasons:

  • It makes nesting command substitutions easier. Compare:
    •   x=$(grep $(dirname "$path") file)
        x=`grep \`dirname "$path"\` file`
    It just gets uglier and uglier after two levels.
  • It's easier to read.
  • Newbies who see $() don't normally press the wrong keys. On the other hand, newbies who see `cmd` often mangle it into 'cmd' because they don't know what a backtick is.

  • Backslashes (\) inside backticks are handled in a non-obvious manner. (Example desired!) Inside $(), there are no such surprises.

The only time backticks are preferred is when writing code for the oldest Bourne shells, which do not know about $().

BashFAQ/082 (last edited 2022-02-19 00:13:59 by larryv)