How to check if two paths are equal in Bash?

Question

What\'s the best way to check if two paths are equal in Bash? For example, given the directory structure

~/
  Desktop/
    Downloads/ (symlink to ~/Downloads         


        

Answer 1

Native bash way:

pwd -P returns the physical directory irrespective of symlinks.

cd "$dir1"
real1=$(pwd -P)
cd "$dir2"
real2=$(pwd -P)
# compare real1 with real2

Another way is to use cd -P, which will follow symlinks but leave you in the physical directory:

cd -P "$dir1"
real1=$(pwd)
cd -P "$dir2"
real2=$(pwd)
# compare real1 with real2