Differences Between Single and Double Quotes in Shell Scripting

In Shell scripting, single quotes (‘) and double quotes (”) behave differently and are used in different contexts:

Single Quotes (‘ ‘)

• Preserves the literal value of each character.
• Variables and special characters within single quotes are not expanded.
• Used to create strings that should not be altered or evaluated.

Double Quotes (” “)

• Allows for the expansion of variables and special characters.
• Interprets variables and special characters within double quotes.
• Used when you want to include variable values within a string or perform command substitution.

Therefore, single quotes should be used when you want to preserve the literal value and double quotes should be used when you need variable expansion or interpretation of special characters.