Re: using the variable name, GROUPS, in a read list

[Bob Proulx]

Greg Wooledge wrote:
> Jim Meyering wrote:
> > Is there a moral here, other than to avoid using special variable names?
> > Probably to prefer lower-case variable names.
> 
> You've nailed it.  Or more precisely, avoid all-upper-case variable names,
> because they tend to collide with environment variables and special shell
> variables.  Any variable name with at least one lower-case letter should
> be safe.
> 
> There is an unfortunate long-lived bad habit that's floating around out
> there, where people think they're supposed to use all-caps variable names
> in shell scripts.  That is not a good idea, and you've just stumbled upon
> one of the many reasons why.

I always used to use upper case shell variable names too.  (For
example TMPDIR, but that collides with other behavior.)  But due to
the collision potential I have been trying to train myself out of that
habit for the last few years.  Now I always use lower case variable
names.  (For example tmpdir, which shouldn't collide.)

So for this I would say the script should use lower case names instead
of upper case names.

Bob