Bash Variables

Bash Variables

In the bash shell, variables are used to store values. Variables can be declared and assigned values using the following syntax:

variable_name=value

For example:

name="Shubham Kumar Gupta"

To reference the value stored in a variable, prefix the variable name with a '$' symbol.

echo "My name is $name"

• In bash, variables can store string, integer or floating-point values.
• Variable names are case-sensitive.
• Varibale names can only contain letters, numbers, and underscores and they must start with a letter or an underscore.

How to change $PATH variable

• The $PATH variable in bash defines the search path for executables.
• We can change it by modifying the contents of the $PATH environment variable.

Few ways to modify the $PATH variable in bash:

• Temporarily modify $PATH for the current shell session:

PATH="$PATH:/new/directory"

• Permanently modify $PATH for the current user:

echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/new/directory"' >> ~/.bashrc

• Permanently modify $PATH for the system-wide shell:

echo 'export PATH="$PATH:/new/directory"' >> /etc/environment

• In each of the above examples, replace /new/directory with the path to the directory you want to add to the $PATH variable.
• After modifying the $PATH variable, you may need to log out and log back in or restart your terminal session for the changes to take effect.