diff --git a/SC2304.md b/SC2304.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..57f344c --- /dev/null +++ b/SC2304.md @@ -0,0 +1,30 @@ +## `*` must be escaped to multiply: `\*`. Modern `$((x * y))` avoids this issue. + +### Problematic code: + +```sh +result=$(expr 2 * 3) +``` + +### Correct code: + +```sh +# Modern, efficient, POSIX standard approach +result=$(( 2 * 3 )) + +# Older, slower approach +result=$(expr 2 \* 3) +``` +### Rationale: + +When using `expr`, each argument is expanded the same way as for any other command. This means that `expr 2 * 3` will turn into `expr 2 Desktop Documents Downloads Music Pictures 3` depending on the files in the current directory, causing an error like `expr: syntax error: unexpected argument ‘Desktop’` + +The best way to avoid this is to avoid `expr` and instead use `$((..))` instead. If you for any reason prefer the 200x slower, heavyweight process of forking a new process, you can escape the `*`. Both ways are demonstrated in the correct example. + +### Exceptions: + +None + +### Related resources: + +* Help by adding links to BashFAQ, StackOverflow, man pages, POSIX, etc! \ No newline at end of file