Re: Can Bash do simple math?

[Emanuele Torre]

On Tue, Aug 06, 2024 at 07:02:36AM -0400, Greg Wooledge wrote:
> On Tue, Aug 06, 2024 at 11:35:43 +0200, bash@blaklinten.xyz wrote:
> > My guess is that the $SECONDS variable was updated by Bash _after_ my
> > assignment but _before_ the printf command, resulting in a "erroneous"
> > value being printed. A kind of race condition, perhaps :)
> 
> It certainly sounds like one.  You might want to write a separate message
> to the bug-bash@gnu.org mailing list about it.
> 

No, that is docuemented:

   SECONDS
     Each time this parameter is referenced, it expands to the number of
     seconds since shell invocation. If a value is assigned to SECONDS,
     the value returned upon subsequent references is the number of
     seconds since the assignment plus the value assigned.  The number
     of seconds at shell invocation and the current time are always
     determined by querying the system clock. If SECONDS is unset, it
     loses its special properties, even if it is subsequently reset.

I've used it a bunch of times to time stuff.

o/
 emanuele6