User Input In Scripts

Variables are useful, but sometimes you want your script to ask the user for information while it runs. The read command pauses the script and waits for the user to type something, then stores that input in a variable.

Here's how it works:

#!/bin/bash
echo "What is your name?"
read name
echo "Hello, $name!"

When this script runs, it prints the question, waits for the user to type their name and press Enter, then greets them. The read command takes whatever the user types and stores it in the variable name.

You can make the prompt cleaner by using the -p flag, which combines the prompt message and input on the same line:

#!/bin/bash
read -p "Enter your name: " name
echo "Hello, $name!"

This displays Enter your name: and waits for input on the same line, which looks more polished. The -p flag takes the prompt text as its argument, followed by the variable name to store the input.

User input makes scripts interactive and adaptable. Instead of hardcoding values, you can write one script that works differently based on what the user provides each time they run it.