wiki.bash-hackers.org/syntax/arrays.md

# Arrays

## Purpose

An array is a parameter that holds mappings from keys to values. Arrays
are used to store a collection of parameters into a parameter. Arrays
(in any programming language) are a useful and common composite data
structure, and one of the most important scripting features in Bash and
other shells.

Here is an **abstract** representation of an array named `NAMES`. The
indexes go from 0 to 3.

    NAMES
     0: Peter
     1: Anna
     2: Greg
     3: Jan

Instead of using 4 separate variables, multiple related variables are
grouped grouped together into *elements* of the array, accessible by
their *key*. If you want the second name, ask for index 1 of the array
`NAMES`.

## Indexing

Bash supports two different types of ksh-like one-dimensional arrays.
**Multidimensional arrays are not implemented**.

- *Indexed arrays* use positive integer numbers as keys. Indexed arrays
  are **always sparse**, meaning indexes are not necessarily contiguous.
  All syntax used for both assigning and dereferencing indexed arrays is
  an [arithmetic evaluation context](/syntax/arith_expr.md) (see
  [\#Referencing](#Referencing)). As in C and many other languages, the
  numerical array indexes start at 0 (zero). Indexed arrays are the most
  common, useful, and portable type. Indexed arrays were first
  introduced to Bourne-like shells by ksh88. Similar, partially
  compatible syntax was inherited by many derivatives including Bash.
  Indexed arrays always carry the `-a` attribute.
- *Associative arrays* (sometimes known as a "hash" or "dict") use
  arbitrary nonempty strings as keys. In other words, associative arrays
  allow you to look up a value from a table based upon its corresponding
  string label. **Associative arrays are always unordered**, they merely
  *associate* key-value pairs. If you retrieve multiple values from the
  array at once, you can't count on them coming out in the same order
  you put them in. Associative arrays always carry the `-A` attribute,
  and unlike indexed arrays, Bash requires that they always be declared
  explicitly (as indexed arrays are the default, see
  [declaration](#Declaration)). Associative arrays were first introduced
  in ksh93, and similar mechanisms were later adopted by Zsh and Bash
  version 4. These three are currently the only POSIX-compatible shells
  with any associative array support.

## Syntax

### Referencing

To accommodate referring to array variables and their individual
elements, Bash extends the parameter naming scheme with a subscript
suffix. Any valid ordinary scalar parameter name is also a valid array
name: `[[:alpha:]_][[:alnum:]_]*`. The parameter name may be followed by
an optional subscript enclosed in square brackets to refer to a member
of the array.

The overall syntax is `arrname[subscript]` - where for indexed arrays,
`subscript` is any valid arithmetic expression, and for associative
arrays, any nonempty string. Subscripts are first processed for
parameter and arithmetic expansions, and command and process
substitutions. When used within parameter expansions or as an argument
to the [unset](commands/builtin/unset) builtin, the special subscripts
`*` and `@` are also accepted which act upon arrays analogously to the
way the `@` and `*` special parameters act upon the positional
parameters. In parsing the subscript, bash ignores any text that follows
the closing bracket up to the end of the parameter name.

With few exceptions, names of this form may be used anywhere ordinary
parameter names are valid, such as within [arithmetic
expressions](/syntax/arith_expr.md), [parameter expansions](/syntax/pe.md),
and as arguments to builtins that accept parameter names. An *array* is
a Bash parameter that has been given the `-a` (for indexed) or `-A` (for
associative) *attributes*. However, any regular (non-special or
positional) parameter may be validly referenced using a subscript,
because in most contexts, referring to the zeroth element of an array is
synonymous with referring to the array name without a subscript.

    # "x" is an ordinary non-array parameter.
    $ x=hi; printf '%s ' "$x" "${x[0]}"; echo "${_[0]}"
    hi hi hi

The only exceptions to this rule are in a few cases where the array
variable's name refers to the array as a whole. This is the case for the
`unset` builtin (see [destruction](#Destruction)) and when declaring an
array without assigning any values (see [declaration](#Declaration)).

### Declaration

The following explicitly give variables array attributes, making them
arrays:

| Syntax             | Description                                                                                                             |
|--------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `ARRAY=()`         | Declares an **indexed** array `ARRAY` and initializes it to be empty. This can also be used to empty an existing array. |
| `ARRAY[0]=`        | Generally sets the first element of an **indexed** array. If no array `ARRAY` existed before, it is created.            |
| `declare -a ARRAY` | Declares an **indexed** array `ARRAY`. An existing array is not initialized.                                            |
| `declare -A ARRAY` | Declares an **associative** array `ARRAY`. This is the one and only way to create associative arrays.                   |

As an example, and for use below, let's declare our `NAMES` array as
described [above](#purpose):

      declare -a NAMES=('Peter' 'Anna' 'Greg' 'Jan')

### Storing values

Storing values in arrays is quite as simple as storing values in normal
variables.

| Syntax                          | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        |
|:--------------------------------|:---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `ARRAY[N]=VALUE`                | Sets the element `N` of the **indexed** array `ARRAY` to `VALUE`. **`N` can be any valid [arithmetic expression](/syntax/arith_expr.md)**.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |
| `ARRAY[STRING]=VALUE`           | Sets the element indexed by `STRING` of the **associative array** `ARRAY`.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         |
| `ARRAY=VALUE`                   | As above. If no index is given, as a default the zeroth element is set to `VALUE`. Careful, this is even true of associative arrays - there is no error if no key is specified, and the value is assigned to string index "0".                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| `ARRAY=(E1\ E2\ ...)`           | Compound array assignment - sets the whole array `ARRAY` to the given list of elements indexed sequentially starting at zero. The array is unset before assignment unless the += operator is used. When the list is empty (`ARRAY=()`), the array will be set to an empty array. This method obviously does not use explicit indexes. An **associative array** can **not** be set like that! Clearing an associative array using `ARRAY=()` works. |
| `ARRAY=([X]=E1\ [Y]=E2\ ...)`   | Compound assignment for indexed arrays with index-value pairs declared individually (here for example `X` and `Y`). X and Y are arithmetic expressions. This syntax can be combined with the above - elements declared without an explicitly specified index are assigned sequentially starting at either the last element with an explicit index, or zero.                                                                                        |
| `ARRAY=([S1]=E1\ [S2]=E2\ ...)` | Individual mass-setting for **associative arrays**. The named indexes (here: `S1` and `S2`) are strings.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |
| `ARRAY+=(E1\ E2\ ...)`          | Append to ARRAY.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   |
| `ARRAY=("${ANOTHER_ARRAY[@]}")` | Copy ANOTHER_ARRAY to ARRAY, copying each element.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |

As of now, arrays can't be exported.

### Getting values

| :shell:  For completeness and details on several parameter expansion
variants, see the [article about parameter expansion](/syntax/pe.md) and
check the notes about arrays.  |
| --- |

| Syntax                                                                | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `${ARRAY[N]}`                                                         | Expands to the value of the index `N` in the **indexed** array `ARRAY`. If `N` is a negative number, it's treated as the offset from the maximum assigned index (can't be used for assignment) - 1                                                                                                                                                          |
| `${ARRAY[S]}`                                                         | Expands to the value of the index `S` in the **associative** array `ARRAY`.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 |
| `"${ARRAY[@]}" ${ARRAY[@]} "${ARRAY[*]}" ${ARRAY[*]}`                 | Similar to [mass-expanding positional parameters](/scripting/posparams.md#mass_usage), this expands to all elements. If unquoted, both subscripts `*` and `@` expand to the same result, if quoted, `@` expands to all elements individually quoted, `*` expands to all elements quoted as a whole.                                                            |
| `"${ARRAY[@]:N:M}" ${ARRAY[@]:N:M} "${ARRAY[*]:N:M}" ${ARRAY[*]:N:M}` | Similar to what this syntax does for the characters of a single string when doing [substring expansion](/syntax/pe.md#substring_expansion), this expands to `M` elements starting with element `N`. This way you can mass-expand individual indexes. The rules for quoting and the subscripts `*` and `@` are the same as above for the other mass-expansions. |

For clarification: When you use the subscripts `@` or `*` for
mass-expanding, then the behaviour is exactly what it is for `$@` and
`$*` when [mass-expanding the positional
parameters](/scripting/posparams.md#mass_usage). You should read this
article to understand what's going on.

### Metadata

<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>Syntax</th>
<th>Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><code>${#ARRAY[N]}</code></td>
<td>Expands to the <strong>length</strong> of an individual array member
at index <code>N</code> (<strong>stringlength</strong>)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><code>${#ARRAY[STRING]}</code></td>
<td>Expands to the <strong>length</strong> of an individual associative
array member at index <code>STRING</code>
(<strong>stringlength</strong>)</td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><code>${#ARRAY[@]}</code><br />
<code>${#ARRAY[*]}</code></td>
<td>Expands to the <strong>number of elements</strong> in
<code>ARRAY</code></td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><code>${!ARRAY[@]}</code><br />
<code>${!ARRAY[*]}</code></td>
<td>Expands to the <strong>indexes</strong> in <code>ARRAY</code> since
BASH 3.0</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

### Destruction

The [unset](commands/builtin/unset) builtin command is used to destroy
(unset) arrays or individual elements of arrays.

<table>
<thead>
<tr class="header">
<th>Syntax</th>
<th>Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr class="odd">
<td><code>unset -v ARRAY</code><br />
<code>unset -v ARRAY[@]</code><br />
<code>unset -v ARRAY[*]</code></td>
<td>Destroys a complete array</td>
</tr>
<tr class="even">
<td><code>unset -v ARRAY[N]</code></td>
<td>Destroys the array element at index <code>N</code></td>
</tr>
<tr class="odd">
<td><code>unset -v ARRAY[STRING]</code></td>
<td>Destroys the array element of the associative array at index
<code>STRING</code></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>

It is best to [explicitly specify
-v](commands/builtin/unset#portability_considerations) when unsetting
variables with unset.

| :warning:  Specifying unquoted array elements as arguments to any
command, such as with the syntax above **may cause [pathname
expansion](/syntax/expansion/globs.md) to occur** due to the presence of
glob characters.

Example: You are in a directory with a file named `x1`, and you want to
destroy an array element `x[1]`, with

    unset x[1]

then pathname expansion will expand to the filename `x1` and break your
processing!

Even worse, if `nullglob` is set, your array/index will disappear.

To avoid this, **always quote** the array name and index:

    unset -v 'x[1]'

This applies generally to all commands which take variable names as
arguments. Single quotes preferred.  |
| --- |

## Usage

### Numerical Index

Numerical indexed arrays are easy to understand and easy to use. The
[Purpose](#purpose) and [Indexing](#indexing) chapters above more or
less explain all the needed background theory.

Now, some examples and comments for you.

Let's say we have an array `sentence` which is initialized as follows:

    sentence=(Be liberal in what you accept, and conservative in what you send)

Since no special code is there to prevent word splitting (no quotes),
every word there will be assigned to an individual array element. When
you count the words you see, you should get 12. Now let's see if Bash
has the same opinion:

    $ echo ${#sentence[@]}
    12

Yes, 12. Fine. You can take this number to walk through the array. Just
**subtract 1 from the number of elements, and start your walk at 0
(zero)**:

    ((n_elements=${#sentence[@]}, max_index=n_elements - 1))

    for ((i = 0; i <= max_index; i++)); do
      echo "Element $i: '${sentence[i]}'"
    done

You always have to remember that, it seems newbies have problems
sometimes. Please understand that **numerical array indexing begins at 0
(zero)**!

The method above, walking through an array by just knowing its number of
elements, only works for arrays where all elements are set, of course.
If one element in the middle is removed, then the calculation is
nonsense, because the number of elements doesn't correspond to the
highest used index anymore (we call them "*sparse arrays*").

Now, suppose that you want to replace your array `sentence` with the
values in the [previously-declared array](#purpose) `NAMES` . You might
think you could just do

    $ unset sentence ; declare -a sentence=NAMES
    $ echo ${#sentence[@]}
    1
    # omit calculating max_index as above, and iterate as one-liner
    $ for ((i = 0; i < ${#sentence[@]}; i++)); do  echo "Element $i: '${sentence[i]}'" ; done
    Element 0: 'NAMES'

Obviously that's wrong. What about

    $ unset sentence ; declare -a sentence=${NAMES}

? Again, wrong:

    $ echo ${#sentence[*]}
    1
    $ for ((i = 0; i < ${#sentence[@]}; i++)); do  echo "Element $i: '${sentence[i]}'" ; done
    Element 0: 'Peter'

So what's the **right** way? The (slightly ugly) answer is, reuse the
enumeration syntax:

    $ unset sentence ; declare -a sentence=("${NAMES[@]}")
    $ echo ${#sentence[@]}
    4
    $ for ((i = 0; i < ${#sentence[@]}; i++)); do  echo "Element $i: '${sentence[i]}'" ; done
    Element 0: 'Peter'
    Element 1: 'Anna'
    Element 2: 'Greg'
    Element 3: 'Jan'

### Associative (Bash 4)

Associative arrays (or *hash tables*) are not much more complicated than
numerical indexed arrays. The numerical index value (in Bash a number
starting at zero) just is replaced with an arbitrary string:

    # declare -A, introduced with Bash 4 to declare an associative array
    declare -A sentence

    sentence[Begin]='Be liberal in what'
    sentence[Middle]='you accept, and conservative'
    sentence[End]='in what you send'
    sentence['Very end']=...

<u>**Beware:**</u> don't rely on the fact that the elements are ordered
in memory like they were declared, it could look like this:

    # output from 'set' command
    sentence=([End]="in what you send" [Middle]="you accept, and conservative " [Begin]="Be liberal in what " ["Very end"]="...")

This effectively means, you can get the data back with
`"${sentence[@]}"`, of course (just like with numerical indexing), but
you can't rely on a specific order. If you want to store ordered data,
or re-order data, go with numerical indexes. For associative arrays, you
usually query known index values:

    for element in Begin Middle End "Very end"; do
        printf "%s" "${sentence[$element]}"
    done
    printf "\n"

**A nice code example:** Checking for duplicate files using an
associative array indexed with the SHA sum of the files:

    # Thanks to Tramp in #bash for the idea and the code

    unset flist; declare -A flist;
    while read -r sum fname; do 
        if [[ ${flist[$sum]} ]]; then
            printf 'rm -- "%s" # Same as >%s<\n' "$fname" "${flist[$sum]}" 
        else
            flist[$sum]="$fname"
        fi
    done <  <(find . -type f -exec sha256sum {} +)  >rmdups

### Integer arrays

Any type attributes applied to an array apply to all elements of the
array. If the integer attribute is set for either indexed or associative
arrays, then values are considered as arithmetic for both compound and
ordinary assignment, and the += operator is modified in the same way as
for ordinary integer variables.

     ~ $ ( declare -ia 'a=(2+4 [2]=2+2 [a[2]]="a[2]")' 'a+=(42 [a[4]]+=3)'; declare -p a )
    declare -ai a='([0]="6" [2]="4" [4]="7" [5]="42")'

`a[0]` is assigned to the result of `2+4`. `a[2]` gets the result of
`2+2`. The last index in the first assignment is the result of `a[2]`,
which has already been assigned as `4`, and its value is also given
`a[2]`.

This shows that even though any existing arrays named `a` in the current
scope have already been unset by using `=` instead of `+=` to the
compound assignment, arithmetic variables within keys can self-reference
any elements already assigned within the same compound-assignment. With
integer arrays this also applies to expressions to the right of the `=`.
(See [evaluation order](#evaluation_order), the right side of an
arithmetic assignment is typically evaluated first in Bash.)

The second compound assignment argument to declare uses `+=`, so it
appends after the last element of the existing array rather than
deleting it and creating a new array, so `a[5]` gets `42`.

Lastly, the element whose index is the value of `a[4]` (`4`), gets `3`
added to its existing value, making `a[4]` == `7`. Note that having the
integer attribute set this time causes += to add, rather than append a
string, as it would for a non-integer array.

The single quotes force the assignments to be evaluated in the
environment of `declare`. This is important because attributes are only
applied to the assignment after assignment arguments are processed.
Without them the `+=` compound assignment would have been invalid, and
strings would have been inserted into the integer array without
evaluating the arithmetic. A special-case of this is shown in the next
section.

| :shell:  Bash declaration commands are really keywords in disguise. They
magically parse arguments to determine whether they are in the form of a
valid assignment. If so, they are evaluated as assignments. If not, they
are undergo normal argument expansion before being passed to the builtin
which evaluates the resulting string as an assignment (somewhat like
`eval`, but there are differences.) `'Todo:`' Discuss this in detail.
 |
| --- |

### Indirection

Arrays can be expanded indirectly using the indirect parameter expansion
syntax. Parameters whose values are of the form: `name[index]`,
`name[@]`, or `name[*]` when expanded indirectly produce the expected
results. This is mainly useful for passing arrays (especially multiple
arrays) by name to a function.

This example is an "isSubset"-like predicate which returns true if all
key-value pairs of the array given as the first argument to isSubset
correspond to a key-value of the array given as the second argument. It
demonstrates both indirect array expansion and indirect key-passing
without eval using the aforementioned special compound assignment
expansion.

    isSubset() {
        local -a 'xkeys=("${!'"$1"'[@]}")' 'ykeys=("${!'"$2"'[@]}")'
        set -- "${@/%/[key]}"

        (( ${#xkeys[@]} <= ${#ykeys[@]} )) || return 1

        local key
        for key in "${xkeys[@]}"; do
            [[ ${!2+_} && ${!1} == ${!2} ]] || return 1
        done
    }

    main() {
        # "a" is a subset of "b"
        local -a 'a=({0..5})' 'b=({0..10})'
        isSubset a b
        echo $? # true

        # "a" contains a key not in "b"
        local -a 'a=([5]=5 {6..11})' 'b=({0..10})'
        isSubset a b
        echo $? # false

        # "a" contains an element whose value != the corresponding member of "b"
        local -a 'a=([5]=5 6 8 9 10)' 'b=({0..10})'
        isSubset a b
        echo $? # false
    }

    main

This script is one way of implementing a crude multidimensional
associative array by storing array definitions in an array and
referencing them through indirection. The script takes two keys and
dynamically calls a function whose name is resolved from the array.

    callFuncs() {
        # Set up indirect references as positional parameters to minimize local name collisions.
        set -- "${@:1:3}" ${2+'a["$1"]' "$1"'["$2"]'}

        # The only way to test for set but null parameters is unfortunately to test each individually.
        local x
        for x; do
            [[ $x ]] || return 0
        done

        local -A a=(
            [foo]='([r]=f [s]=g [t]=h)'
            [bar]='([u]=i [v]=j [w]=k)'
            [baz]='([x]=l [y]=m [z]=n)'
            ) ${4+${a["$1"]+"${1}=${!3}"}} # For example, if "$1" is "bar" then define a new array: bar=([u]=i [v]=j [w]=k)

        ${4+${a["$1"]+"${!4-:}"}} # Now just lookup the new array. for inputs: "bar" "v", the function named "j" will be called, which prints "j" to stdout.
    }

    main() {
        # Define functions named {f..n} which just print their own names.
        local fun='() { echo "$FUNCNAME"; }' x

        for x in {f..n}; do
            eval "${x}${fun}"
        done

        callFuncs "$@"
    }

    main "$@"

## Bugs and Portability Considerations

- Arrays are not specified by POSIX. One-dimensional indexed arrays are
  supported using similar syntax and semantics by most Korn-like shells.
- Associative arrays are supported via `typeset -A` in Bash 4, Zsh, and
  Ksh93.
- In Ksh93, arrays whose types are not given explicitly are not
  necessarily indexed. Arrays defined using compound assignments which
  specify subscripts are associative by default. In Bash, associative
  arrays can *only* be created by explicitly declaring them as
  associative, otherwise they are always indexed. In addition, ksh93 has
  several other compound structures whose types can be determined by the
  compound assignment syntax used to create them.
- In Ksh93, using the `=` compound assignment operator unsets the array,
  including any attributes that have been set on the array prior to
  assignment. In order to preserve attributes, you must use the `+=`
  operator. However, declaring an associative array, then attempting an
  `a=(...)` style compound assignment without specifying indexes is an
  error. I can't explain this
  inconsistency.` $ ksh -c 'function f { typeset -a a; a=([0]=foo [1]=bar); typeset -p a; }; f' # Attribute is lost, and since subscripts are given, we default to associative.
  typeset -A a=([0]=foo [1]=bar)
   $ ksh -c 'function f { typeset -a a; a+=([0]=foo [1]=bar); typeset -p a; }; f' # Now using += gives us the expected results.
  typeset -a a=(foo bar)
   $ ksh -c 'function f { typeset -A a; a=(foo bar); typeset -p a; }; f' # On top of that, the reverse does NOT unset the attribute. No idea why.
   ksh: f: line 1: cannot append index array to associative array a
  `
- Only Bash and mksh support compound assignment with mixed explicit
  subscripts and automatically incrementing subscripts. In ksh93, in
  order to specify individual subscripts within a compound assignment,
  all subscripts must be given (or none). Zsh doesn't support specifying
  individual subscripts at all.
- Appending to a compound assignment is a fairly portable way to append
  elements after the last index of an array. In Bash, this also sets
  append mode for all individual assignments within the compound
  assignment, such that if a lower subscript is specified, subsequent
  elements will be appended to previous values. In ksh93, it causes
  subscripts to be ignored, forcing appending everything after the last
  element. (Appending has different meaning due to support for
  multi-dimensional arrays and nested compound datastructures.)
  ` $ ksh -c 'function f { typeset -a a; a+=(foo bar baz); a+=([3]=blah [0]=bork [1]=blarg [2]=zooj); typeset -p a; }; f' # ksh93 forces appending to the array, disregarding subscripts
  typeset -a a=(foo bar baz '[3]=blah' '[0]=bork' '[1]=blarg' '[2]=zooj')
   $ bash -c 'function f { typeset -a a; a+=(foo bar baz); a+=(blah [0]=bork blarg zooj); typeset -p a; }; f' # Bash applies += to every individual subscript.
  declare -a a='([0]="foobork" [1]="barblarg" [2]="bazzooj" [3]="blah")'
   $ mksh -c 'function f { typeset -a a; a+=(foo bar baz); a+=(blah [0]=bork blarg zooj); typeset -p a; }; f' # Mksh does like Bash, but clobbers previous values rather than appending.
  set -A a
  typeset a[0]=bork
  typeset a[1]=blarg
  typeset a[2]=zooj
  typeset a[3]=blah
  `
- In Bash and Zsh, the alternate value assignment parameter expansion
  (`${arr[idx]:=foo}`) evaluates the subscript twice, first to determine
  whether to expand the alternate, and second to determine the index to
  assign the alternate to. See [evaluation order](#evaluation_order).
  ` $ : ${_[$(echo $RANDOM >&2)1]:=$(echo hi >&2)}
  13574
  hi
  14485
  `
- In Zsh, arrays are indexed starting at 1 in its default mode.
  Emulation modes are required in order to get any kind of portability.
- Zsh and mksh do not support compound assignment arguments to
  `typeset`.
- Ksh88 didn't support modern compound array assignment syntax. The
  original (and most portable) way to assign multiple elements is to use
  the `set -A name arg1 arg2 ...` syntax. This is supported by almost
  all shells that support ksh-like arrays except for Bash. Additionally,
  these shells usually support an optional `-s` argument to `set` which
  performs lexicographic sorting on either array elements or the
  positional parameters. Bash has no built-in sorting ability other than
  the usual comparison operators.
  ` $ ksh -c 'set -A arr -- foo bar bork baz; typeset -p arr' # Classic array assignment syntax
  typeset -a arr=(foo bar bork baz)
   $ ksh -c 'set -sA arr -- foo bar bork baz; typeset -p arr' # Native sorting!
  typeset -a arr=(bar baz bork foo)
   $ mksh -c 'set -sA arr -- foo "[3]=bar" "[2]=baz" "[7]=bork"; typeset -p arr' # Probably a bug. I think the maintainer is aware of it.
  set -A arr
  typeset arr[2]=baz
  typeset arr[3]=bar
  typeset arr[7]=bork
  typeset arr[8]=foo
  `
- Evaluation order for assignments involving arrays varies significantly
  depending on context. Notably, the order of evaluating the subscript
  or the value first can change in almost every shell for both
  expansions and arithmetic variables. See [evaluation
  order](#evaluation_order) for details.
- Bash 4.1.\* and below cannot use negative subscripts to address array
  indexes relative to the highest-numbered index. You must use the
  subscript expansion, i.e. `"${arr[@]:(-n):1}"`, to expand the nth-last
  element (or the next-highest indexed after `n` if `arr[n]` is unset).
  In Bash 4.2, you may expand (but not assign to) a negative index. In
  Bash 4.3, ksh93, and zsh, you may both assign and expand negative
  offsets.
- ksh93 also has an additional slice notation: `"${arr[n..m]}"` where
  `n` and `m` are arithmetic expressions. These are needed for use with
  multi-dimensional arrays.
- Assigning or referencing negative indexes in mksh causes wrap-around.
  The max index appears to be `UINT_MAX`, which would be addressed by
  `arr[-1]`.
- So far, Bash's `-v var` test doesn't support individual array
  subscripts. You may supply an array name to test whether an array is
  defined, but can't check an element. ksh93's `-v` supports both. Other
  shells lack a `-v` test.

### Bugs

- **Fixed in 4.3** Bash 4.2.\* and earlier considers each chunk of a
  compound assignment, including the subscript for globbing. The
  subscript part is considered quoted, but any unquoted glob characters
  on the right-hand side of the `[...]=` will be clumped with the
  subscript and counted as a glob. Therefore, you must quote anything on
  the right of the `=` sign. This is fixed in 4.3, so that each
  subscript assignment statement is expanded following the same rules as
  an ordinary assignment. This also works correctly in ksh93.
  `$ touch '[1]=a'; bash -c 'a=([1]=*); echo "${a[@]}"'
  [1]=a
  ` mksh has a similar but even worse problem in that the entire
  subscript is considered a glob.
  `$ touch 1=a; mksh -c 'a=([123]=*); print -r -- "${a[@]}"'
  1=a
  `
- **Fixed in 4.3** In addition to the above globbing issue, assignments
  preceding "declare" have an additional effect on brace and pathname
  expansion. `$ set -x; foo=bar declare arr=( {1..10} )
  + foo=bar
  + declare 'arr=(1)' 'arr=(2)' 'arr=(3)' 'arr=(4)' 'arr=(5)' 'arr=(6)' 'arr=(7)' 'arr=(8)' 'arr=(9)' 'arr=(10)'

  $ touch xy=foo
  + touch xy=foo
  $ declare x[y]=*
  + declare 'x[y]=*'
  $ foo=bar declare x[y]=*
  + foo=bar
  + declare xy=foo
  ` Each word (the entire assignment) is subject to globbing and brace
  expansion. This appears to trigger the same strange expansion mode as
  `let`, `eval`, other declaration commands, and maybe more.
- **Fixed in 4.3** Indirection combined with another modifier expands
  arrays to a single word.
  `$ a=({a..c}) b=a[@]; printf '<%s> ' "${!b}"; echo; printf '<%s> ' "${!b/%/foo}"; echo
  <a> <b> <c>
  <a b cfoo>
  `
- **Fixed in 4.3** Process substitutions are evaluated within array
  indexes. Zsh and ksh don't do this in any arithmetic context.
  `# print "moo"
  dev=fd=1 _[1<(echo moo >&2)]=

  # Fork bomb
  ${dev[${dev='dev[1>(${dev[dev]})]'}]}
  `

### Evaluation order

Here are some of the nasty details of array assignment evaluation order.
You can use this [testcase code](https://gist.github.com/ormaaj/4942297)
to generate these results.

    Each testcase prints evaluation order for indexed array assignment
    contexts. Each context is tested for expansions (represented by digits) and
    arithmetic (letters), ordered from left to right within the expression. The
    output corresponds to the way evaluation is re-ordered for each shell:

    a[ $1 a ]=${b[ $2 b ]:=${c[ $3 c ]}}               No attributes
    a[ $1 a ]=${b[ $2 b ]:=c[ $3 c ]}                  typeset -ia a
    a[ $1 a ]=${b[ $2 b ]:=c[ $3 c ]}                  typeset -ia b
    a[ $1 a ]=${b[ $2 b ]:=c[ $3 c ]}                  typeset -ia a b
    (( a[ $1 a ] = b[ $2 b ] ${c[ $3 c ]} ))           No attributes
    (( a[ $1 a ] = ${b[ $2 b ]:=c[ $3 c ]} ))          typeset -ia b
    a+=( [ $1 a ]=${b[ $2 b ]:=${c[ $3 c ]}} [ $4 d ]=$(( $5 e )) ) typeset -a a
    a+=( [ $1 a ]=${b[ $2 b ]:=c[ $3 c ]} [ $4 d ]=${5}e ) typeset -ia a

    bash: 4.2.42(1)-release
    2 b 3 c 2 b 1 a
    2 b 3 2 b 1 a c
    2 b 3 2 b c 1 a
    2 b 3 2 b c 1 a c
    1 2 3 c b a
    1 2 b 3 2 b c c a
    1 2 b 3 c 2 b 4 5 e a d
    1 2 b 3 2 b 4 5 a c d e

    ksh93: Version AJM 93v- 2013-02-22
    1 2 b b a
    1 2 b b a
    1 2 b b a
    1 2 b b a
    1 2 3 c b a
    1 2 b b a
    1 2 b b a 4 5 e d
    1 2 b b a 4 5 d e

    mksh: @(#)MIRBSD KSH R44 2013/02/24
    2 b 3 c 1 a
    2 b 3 1 a c
    2 b 3 c 1 a
    2 b 3 c 1 a
    1 2 3 c a b
    1 2 b 3 c a
    1 2 b 3 c 4 5 e a d
    1 2 b 3 4 5 a c d e

    zsh: 5.0.2
    2 b 3 c 2 b 1 a
    2 b 3 2 b 1 a c
    2 b 1 a
    2 b 1 a
    1 2 3 c b a
    1 2 b a
    1 2 b 3 c 2 b 4 5 e
    1 2 b 3 2 b 4 5

## See also

- [Parameter expansion](/syntax/pe.md) (contains sections for arrays)
- [classic_for](/syntax/ccmd/classic_for.md) (contains some examples to
  iterate over arrays)
- [declare](/commands/builtin/declare.md)
- [BashFAQ 005 - How can I use array
  variables?](http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashFAQ/005) - A very detailed
  discussion on arrays with many examples.
- [BashSheet - Arrays](http://mywiki.wooledge.org/BashSheet#Arrays) -
  Bashsheet quick-reference on Greycat's wiki.