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  • 5
    I think this is better than the accepted answer.
    – qed
    Commented Apr 5, 2013 at 10:00
  • 5
    Why are you recommending a non-portable feature when doing so gives no benefit?
    – Alastair Irvine
    Commented Nov 24, 2014 at 8:16
  • 27
    @AlastairIrvine: I mention portability in the first sentence of my answer, the question title and body contain the word "Bash" and the question is tagged bash, and the double bracket structure provides clear advantages in many ways. And I don't recommend mixing bracket styles for reasons of consistency and maintainability. If you need maximum, lowest common denominator portability, use sh instead of Bash. If you need the increased capabilities that it provides, use Bash and use it fully.
    – Dennis Williamson
    Commented Nov 24, 2014 at 13:59
  • 3
    @BrunoBronosky: I reverted the edit. There's no requirement for ; at the end. The then can be on the next line without a semicolon at all.
    – Dennis Williamson
    Commented Nov 30, 2016 at 23:52
  • 7
    You can do that, but a puppy dies every time you put then on its own line.
    – Bruno Bronosky
    Commented Dec 1, 2016 at 3:11