Differences between doublequotes “ ”, singlequotes ' ' and backticks ´ ´ on commandline?

Question

I often see tutorials on the web or at this which make heavy use of the following chars at the commandline. Often it seems that they are used at pretty the same purposes? What are the differences between them at use on commandline or shell programming? And for what purpose do i use which of them?

" " doublequotes

' ' singlequotes

´ ´ backticks

Answer 1

For example purpose, consider that variable foo contains uname.

• echo "$foo" outputs uname, subtitute variables in text.
• echo '$foo' outputs $foo, the exact string (only ' should be escaped \').
• echo `$foo` outputs Linux, execute the content of the variable and echo outputs it.

Answer 2

Single quotes ('') are used to preserve the literal value of each character enclosed within the quotes

Using double quotes the literal value of all characters enclosed is preserved, except for the dollar sign, the backticks (backward single quotes, ``) and the backslash.

When enclosed inside back-ticks, the shell interprets something to mean "the output of the command inside the back-ticks." This is referred to as command substitution, as the output of the command inside the back-ticks is substituted for the command itself

references:

http://www.linuxtopia.org/online_books/bash_guide_for_beginners/sect_03_03.html

http://www.linux-tutorial.info/modules.php?name=MContent&pageid=20

Answer 3

Am just talking in general but:

"" - Used to process some info inside of them before output. Like in PHP when you " " a variable For example: echo "Hello my name is $name" (Will output: Hello my name is NESS)

' ' - Used to show the ouput as it is. For example in PHP using the example above it will output the echo as it is (Will output: Hello my name is $name)

So the difference between Double and Single is that Double Quotes process the variable and show the value while single qoutes show the name of the variable without processing.

` ` - Used to quote commands that are later assign to another variable.

Answer 4

Single quotes enclose a value which is to be taken literally. Usually used if the value includes or may include white space (space, tab, new-line), or special characters ($, ).

Double quotes enclose a value which will have variables, and character replacement done. Required when the output may contain whitespace, and must be assigned as a single value.

Back quotes enclose a command, the results of which are wanted as value. Newer shells allow the use of $(...) in place of .... I prefer the newer method.

The following code may help understand what is happening.

CMD='ls .'
echo sq: $CMD
set $CMD
echo raw 1: $1
echo raw: $*
set "$CMD"
echo dq: $1
echo bq: `$CMD`
echo new: $($CMD)