What are the parentheses used for in a bash shell script function definition like “f () {}”? Is it different than using the “function” keyword?

Question

I\'v always wondered what they\'re used for? Seems silly to put them in every time if you can never put anything inside them.

function_name () {
    #stateme         


        

Answer 1

The empty parentheses are required in your first example so that bash knows it's a function definition (otherwise it looks like an ordinary command). In the second example, the () is optional because you've used function.