The traditional format of Bash's if/then has `if` and `then` on separate lines: ... | Hacker News

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pizza234 on March 2, 2021 | parent | context | favorite | on: Elegant Bash Conditionals

The traditional format of Bash's if/then has `if` and `then` on separate lines:

    if command_or_condition
    then
      branch
    fi

I suppose that to many, this looks wasteful and consequently ugly, so one looks for alternatives.

I always inline the `then`, which requires a semicolon:

    if command_or_condition; then
      branch
    fi

If I was forced to use the traditional format, I'd be definitely annoyed :)

a1369209993 on March 2, 2021 | [–]

I use:

  if command_or_condition
  then branch
       more_branch
  fi

Given the relationship between ; and newline, and the positions of required ;s in if/then/fi, I assumed that was intended.

joana035 on March 3, 2021 | [–]

How swapping a '\n' char for a ';' is less "wasteful" or "ugly"?

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