#!/bin/bash
# int-or-string.sh: Integer or string?

a=2334                   # Integer.
let "a += 1"
echo "a = $a "           # a = 2335
echo                     # Integer, still.


b=${a/23/BB}             # Substitute "BB" for "23".
                         # This transforms $b into a string.
echo "b = $b"            # b = BB35
declare -i b             # Declaring it an integer doesn't help.
echo "b = $b"            # b = BB35

let "b += 1"             # BB35 + 1 =
echo "b = $b"            # b = 1
echo

c=BB34
echo "c = $c"            # c = BB34
d=${c/BB/23}             # Substitute "23" for "BB".
                         # This makes $d an integer.
echo "d = $d"            # d = 2334
let "d += 1"             # 2334 + 1 =
echo "d = $d"            # d = 2335
echo

# What about null variables?
e=""
echo "e = $e"            # e =
let "e += 1"             # Arithmetic operations allowed on a null variable?
echo "e = $e"            # e = 1
echo                     # Null variable transformed into an integer.

# What about undeclared variables?
echo "f = $f"            # f =
let "f += 1"             # Arithmetic operations allowed?
echo "f = $f"            # f = 1
echo                     # Undeclared variable transformed into an integer.



# Variables in Bash are essentially untyped.

exit 0