Bash array variables: [@] or [*]? -

bash-3.2$ echo astr | sed 'hah' | sed 's/s/z/' sed: 1: "hah": characters @ end of h command bash-3.2$ echo ${pipestatus[*]} 0 1 0 bash-3.2$ echo astr | sed 'hah' | sed 's/s/z/' sed: 1: "hah": characters @ end of h command bash-3.2$ piperet=("${pipestatus[*]}") bash-3.2$ echo ${piperet[*]} 0 1 0 bash-3.2$ 

this indicates [*] works fine. this tut mentions use [@] instead.

are both equally valid?

the difference matters when array elements contain spaces etc. , multiple spaces, , manifest when expressions enclosed in double quotes:

$ x=( '    b  c   ' 'd  e  f' ) $ printf "[%s]\n" "${x[*]}" [    b  c    d  e  f] $ printf "[%s]\n" "${x[@]}" [    b  c   ] [d  e  f] $ printf "[%s]\n" ${x[@]} [a] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] $ printf "[%s]\n" ${x[*]} [a] [b] [c] [d] [e] [f] $ 

outside double quotes, there's no difference. inside double quotes, * means 'a single string' , @ means 'array elements individually'.

it closely analogous way $* , $@ (and "$*" , "$@") work.

see bash manual on:

• arrays
• special parameters