Shell equality operators (=, ==, -eq)

What is the difference between =, == and -eq in shell scripting?

Is there any difference between the following?

[ $a = $b ]
[ $a == $b ]
[ $a -eq $b ]

Is it simply that = and == are only used when the variables contain numbers?

ANS:

= and == are for string comparisons
-eq is for numeric comparisons
-eq is in the same family as -lt, -le, -gt, -ge, and -ne

== is specific to bash (not present in sh (Bourne shell), ...). Using POSIX = is preferred for compatibility. In bash the two are equivalent, and in sh = is the only one that will work.

$ a=foo
$ [ "$a" = foo ]; echo "$?"       # POSIX sh
0
$ [ "$a" == foo ]; echo "$?"      # bash-specific
0
$ [ "$a" -eq foo ]; echo "$?"     # wrong
-bash: [: foo: integer expression expected
2

(Note: make sure to quote the variable expansions. Do not leave out the double-quotes above.)

If you're writing a #!/bin/bash script then I recommend using [[ instead. The double square-brackets [[...]] form has more features, a more natural syntax, and fewer gotchas that will trip you up. For example, double quotes are no longer required around $a:

$ [[ $a == foo ]]; echo "$?"      # bash-specific
0

See also:

• What's the difference between [ and [[ in Bash?

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