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Note that bash only does integer mat internally. If you want to do floating point arithmatic, you will need to used some sort of external program. Commonly used is bc, for example:
By the way, you don’t need ‘$’ inside of ‘$((…))’. Some even claim that it’s less error prone. Compare:
Code:
]$ a=2+2
$ echo $((a * 2))
8
$ echo $(($a * 2))
6
i wouldn't say less error prone - it seems both use cases are treated differently:
the first, counts 2+2=4 BEFORE multiplying it, the second uses the literal string 2+2.
while the second is mathematically correct, you cannot say that either of them is wrong because of the unique way bash (and all shells i believe) can treat strings as numbers and vice versa.
i would never use a construct like 'a=2+2' inside a bash script. if anything, that's where the error is, it's confusing mathematical operations with variable assigment.
PS: i'm perfectly aware this is a necrobumped thread, but why not...
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