Bash Quiz: Can You Master Variables, Loops & Conditionals?

1. Which of the following correctly uses parameter expansion to set a default value?

${VAR:=default}

${VAR-default}

${VAR:-default}

All of the above

2. Which syntax correctly creates a function in Bash?

Function name() { commands; }

Def name() { commands; }

Func name { commands; }

Name() { commands; }

3. In Bash, $0 refers to ____.

The script name

The first argument

The last argument

The current directory

4. What does the 'break' statement do inside a loop?

Pauses the loop temporarily

Exits the loop immediately

Skips to the next iteration

Restarts the loop

5. Which variable holds the exit status of the last command executed?

$?

$!

$@

$#

6. How do you comment a single line in a Bash script?

// comment

# comment

/* comment */

-- comment

7. What does the 'read' command do in a Bash script?

Displays file contents

Accepts user input and stores it in a variable

Reads environment variables

Reads script execution time

8. Which operator tests if a file exists in Bash?

-e

-f

-d

-x

9. How do you iterate over each file in the current directory using a for loop?

For file in *; do echo $file; done

For $file in ls; do echo $file; done

For file in $(ls); do echo $file; done

Both a and c

10. What is the purpose of the 'shift' command in Bash?

Renames variables

Removes the first positional parameter

Converts lowercase to uppercase

Shifts output to a file

11. In Bash, which syntax correctly declares and initializes a variable?

Var = 5

Var=5

$var = 5

Let var = 5

12. What does the 'case' statement do in Bash?

Tests if a value matches multiple patterns

Converts strings to uppercase

Declares a variable as a case-sensitive string

Checks if a file exists

13. How do you combine multiple conditions with AND logic in Bash?

[ $x -gt 5 ] AND [ $y -lt 10 ]

[ $x -gt 5 ] && [ $y -lt 10 ]

[ $x -gt 5 ] & [ $y -lt 10 ]

If $x > 5 AND $y < 10

14. What does the -n flag test in a conditional statement?

If a number is non-zero

If a string is not empty

If a file is not readable

If a variable is not set

15. Which operator tests if two strings are equal in Bash?

==

=

-eq

Both a and b

16. What is the difference between 'if' and '[ ]' syntax in Bash conditionals?

No difference; they are identical

'if' is a keyword; '[ ]' is the test command

'[ ]' only works with strings

'if' requires parentheses around conditions

17. Which loop structure repeats commands while a condition is true?

For loop

While loop

Until loop

Case loop

18. What does the for loop syntax 'for i in 1 2 3; do echo $i; done' accomplish?

Prints 1, 2, 3 on separate lines

Assigns only 1 to i and prints it

Creates a range from 1 to 3

Iterates through file names matching pattern

19. Which command expands the variable stored in VAR?

Echo VAR

Echo $VAR

Echo &VAR

Echo %VAR%

20. What is the output of echo $((5 + 3 * 2))?

16

11

13

8