How do I syntax check a Bash script without running it?

Question

Is it possible to check a bash script syntax without executing it? Using Perl, I can run `perl -c 'script name'`. Is there any equivalent command for bash scripts?

Answer 1

Yes there is!

Use the "-n" option ... bash will check the syntactical validity of a script without running it.

See script usage details below.

$ cat tester

echo "Hello, World!"

for i in 1 2 3 4 5

do

echo $i

done

for i

$ bash -n tester

tester: line 9: syntax error: unexpected end of file