printf
printf is like filling in a form with blanks for names and numbers, so your output comes out exactly the shape you planned. Unlike echo, it will not press Enter for you at the end.
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Syntax
printf "format string\n" argument1 argument2
# %s string, %d integer, %.2f decimalprintf
printf formats output using format specifiers like %s (string), %d (integer), and %.2f (decimal), similar to C's printf. Unlike echo, it does not add a trailing newline automatically — you must include \n yourself.
It gives much more precise control over output formatting than echo.
Note:
Use
printf instead of echo whenever you need aligned columns or fixed decimal places.Example: printf
#!/bin/bash
printf "Name: %s, Age: %d\n" "Alice" 30
printf "Pi is approximately %.2f\n" 3.14159
printf "%-10s|%5s\n" "left" "right"Login to try C/C++/Java/PHP code in the editor
Related Topics
{# common_mistakes/chapter_summary/browser_support: on Hindi pages the
view already swaps in the hi_ translation fields (or blanks these
out if untranslated), so this renders correctly for both languages
without a lang_code check here. #}
Common Mistakes
- Forgetting
\nin the format string, sinceprintfdoes not add a newline by itself. - Passing the wrong number of arguments, so the format is reused or fields are empty.
- Using user input as the format string, as in
printf "$input", which can break on%; useprintf '%s\n' "$input".
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