Difference between printf and echo in Bash

Question

$ printf \'apple\' | wc -m
       5
$ echo \'apple\' | wc -m
       6

Why printf prints 5 and echo prints 6 characters?

Answer 1

Printf does not give new line after execution of command but echo gives new linw after the execution of command. Please see the bewlow code output.

Use of Printf:

!/bin/sh

a=0

while [ $a -lt 10 ] do printf $a a=expr $a + 1 done

o/p: 0123456789

Use of Echo:

!/bin/sh

a=0

while [ $a -lt 10 ] do echo $a a=expr $a + 1 done

o/p:It will print in a column wise as this window not taking as a column wise please try to execute this code it will give better understanding.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

you can remove the new line in echo by giving the bewlow command echo -n $a