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  • Thanks for the response...!! Actually I am indeed trying to learn things in shell script...otherwise implementing array in Python is really a piece of cake. This was a big lesson that there exists some scripting language which does not support array :) One thing, the code you posted is giving a error - "syntax error at line 6: `$' unexpected" ... I am a little busy now, I would get it solved...plz dont bother. Commented Jun 17, 2014 at 10:51
  • @NoobGeek, the Bourne shell doesn't have the $(...) syntax. So you must indeed have the Bourne shell. Are you on Solaris 10 or before? Chances are you won't have a seq either. On Solaris 10 and earlier, you want /usr/xpg4/bin/sh to have a standard sh instead of a Bourne shell. Using seq that way is not very good either. Commented Jun 17, 2014 at 11:42
  • POSIX states that $ and ` are equivalent in command substitution: link. And why is using of seq that way not good? Commented Jun 17, 2014 at 12:17
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    Yes in POSIX shells, you should prefer $(...) over `, but the OP's /bin/sh is probably a Bourne shell, not a POSIX shell. Beside seq not being a standard command, doing $(seq 100) means storing the whole output in memory, and that means it depends on the current value of $IFS containing newline and not containing digits. Best to use i=1; while [ "$i" -le 100 ]; ...; i=$(($i + 1)); done (though that wouldn't work in the Bourne shell either). Commented Jun 17, 2014 at 13:51
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    @Daenyth I would say quite the contrary: learning bashisms first, and then portable /bin/sh syntax later, tends to make people think it's okay to use the wrong #!/bin/sh shebang, and then breaks their scripts when other people try to use them. You'd be well advised to not post this kind of flamebait. :) Commented Oct 30, 2015 at 13:39