What is more portable? echo -e or using printf?
bash, compatibility
Solution
`printf` is more portable. It should always be preferred over `echo -e`. If targeting bash/zsh/ksh specifically, `echo $'...'` is also ok. If targeting zsh or ksh specifically, `print` is ok.
- http://cfajohnson.com/shell/cus-faq.html#Q0b
- http://www.in-ulm.de/~mascheck/various/echo+printf/
- http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/echo.html#tag_20_37_16
POSIX (last link) also discusses `echo -n` problems, which should also be avoided. Basically, never use options to `echo`, and for portability, use printf.)
Problem
I'm currently writing a bash testing framework, which requires to be as portable as possible. So, at one point, I had to print a leading newline followed by some text which contains several expanded variables. This is the solution I've used. ``` echo -e "\n$number_of_specs ${units}, $number_of_specs_failed failed" ``` This seems okay but I'm not sure how portable that is compared to printing out the line using e.g. `printf`? Any ideas or hints where I could find some references?