In bash, how can I print the first n elements of a list?

Question

In bash, how can I print the first n elements of a list?

For example, the first 10 files in this list:

FILES=$(ls)

Answer 1

FILES=(*)
echo "${FILES[@]:0:10}"

Should work correctly even if there are spaces in filenames.

FILES=$(ls) creates a string variable. FILES=(*) creates an array. See this page for more examples on using arrays in bash. (thanks lhunath)