Creating functions

Functions in Bash are blocks of reusable code that perform a certain action. They help structure scripts and avoid repetitive code, making scripts easier to maintain and debug. In data science, you might use Bash functions to perform recurring tasks such as loading data, processing files, or managing resources.

A function in Bash is declared with the following syntax:

function_name() {
  # Code here
}

function_name is the name of the function, which you’ll use to call it. The code inside the curly braces {} is the body of the function.

Here’s an example of a function that prints a greeting:

greet() {
  echo "Hello, $1"
}

This greet function prints “Hello” followed by the first argument passed to it. The $1 part is a special variable that refers to the first argument.

Once a function is defined, it can be called by its name. For example, to call the greet function, you would write the following...