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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-06-16T04:08:29+00:00

The Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide makes extensive use of multiline comments in examples, of the

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The Advanced Bash-Scripting Guide makes extensive use of multiline comments in examples, of the form:

echo ls -l | sh
#  Passes the output of "echo ls -l" to the shell,
#+ with the same result as a simple "ls -l".

(found in the explanation for the pipe | symbol). Other multiline comments look like this:

#!/bin/bash
# rpm-check.sh

#  Queries an rpm file for description, listing,
#+ and whether it can be installed.
#  Saves output to a file.
# 
#  This script illustrates using a code block.

(example 3.2 in the linked page).

What is the ratonale for the use of #+? Some multiline comments it seems to indicate that the comment continues on in the next line, but others it doesn’t.
Is there a ‘bash-scripting comment etiquette` that I should (attempt to) follow in my own scripts?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    It appears that the author of the Advanced Bash Scripting Guide uses that on lines which continue a sentence from the previous line.

    This is not a standard stylistic choice; this appears to be a stylistic quirk of the author of the Advanced Bash Scripting Guide.

    I will note that while there is some good technical information in the Advanced Bash Scripting Guide, the coding style is fairly non-standard. I wouldn’t use it as an example of what good Bash coding practices are. A somewhat better resource is the Bash FAQ.

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