Bash convention for if ; then

Question

From this web page :

http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/abs-guide.html

It\'s mentioned the usage of the if bracket then convention which need a space after the semicol

Answer 1

I've never came across a shell that required a space in that context. Just to make sure, I've asked on c.u.s., you can read the replies here.