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shfmt

shfmt is a command-line tool used by shell programmers to automatically format their shell scripts. It’s designed to make shell scripts more readable, consistent, and maintainable by applying a set of formatting rules. This can be especially helpful when working on large projects or collaborating with other developers, as it enforces a consistent coding style across the codebase.

Here’s how you can use shfmt to format your shell scripts:

  1. Installation:

Before you can use shfmt, you need to install it on your system. You can usually do this using a package manager like brew (on macOS) or apt (on Debian-based systems). For example, to install shfmt using brew, you’d run the following command:

sh brew install shfmt

  1. Formatting:

Once installed, you can use shfmt to format your shell scripts. Simply provide the path to the script you want to format as an argument. For example, if you have a script called myscript.sh, you can format it using the following command:

sh shfmt -i 4 -w myscript.sh

In the above command:

  • -i 4: Specifies an indentation of 4 spaces. You can adjust this number to match your preferred indentation style.
  • -w: Writes the changes back to the file.
  1. Automation:

Many developers integrate shfmt into their development workflows by using it in conjunction with version control systems (e.g., Git hooks) or build scripts. This ensures that all shell scripts in a project are automatically formatted according to the specified rules.

By using shfmt, you can easily maintain a consistent and clean coding style throughout your shell scripts, making them easier to understand and collaborate on.

Remember that shfmt has several options and customization features, so you can tailor its behavior to match your preferred coding style. To learn more about these options, you can refer to the official documentation or use the -h flag with the shfmt command to display its help information.

shfmt -h

Overall, shfmt is a valuable tool for shell programmers to ensure their scripts are well-formatted and follow best practices in terms of coding style.