printf

Use

printf 'Hello %s\n' "$1"

What It Does

printf prints formatted text predictably.

Format Strings

Print a string with a newline:

printf '%s\n' "hello makers"

Print two strings:

printf 'name=%s shell=%s\n' "$USER" "$SHELL"

Print an integer:

printf 'count=%d\n' 3

Pad a field:

printf '%-10s %s\n' "status" "ok"

Print repeated lines in a loop:

for number in {1..3}; do
  printf 'number=%s\n' "$number"
done

Why Not Echo In Scripts

printf does not add a newline unless you include \n, and it handles format strings consistently. echo differs across shells.

Watch Out

Quote variables passed to printf. Treat the first argument as the format string, not as arbitrary user input.

Docs Pointers

• Run help printf.
• Read echo, quoting, and shell scripting.