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[Explore Stack Internal](https://stackoverflow.co/internal/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=stackoverflow-community&utm_campaign=side-bar&utm_content=explore-teams-compact-popover) # [For loop in Unix](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17872159/for-loop-in-unix) [Ask Question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/ask) Asked 12 years, 7 months ago Modified [12 years, 7 months ago](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17872159/for-loop-in-unix?lastactivity "2013-07-29 08:26:53Z") Viewed 16k times 1 I am new to Unix programming and I am not able to figure out what is wrong with this code: ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..$max} do echo $i; done ``` If I try the above code as follows it works: ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..10} do echo $i; done ``` I have tried this: ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..`echo $max`} do echo $i; done ``` and ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..`expr $max`} do echo $i; done ``` and ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..`echo $max | bc`} do echo $i; done ``` But it is also not working.. Can anyone tell me how come it will work..? - [shell](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/shell "show questions tagged 'shell'") - [unix](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/unix "show questions tagged 'unix'") [Share](https://stackoverflow.com/q/17872159 "Short permalink to this question") [Improve this question](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/17872159/edit) Follow asked Jul 26, 2013 at 2:59 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1393856/veer-shrivastav) [Veer Shrivastav](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1393856/veer-shrivastav) 5,4961111 gold badges5858 silver badges8484 bronze badges 0 [Add a comment](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17872159/for-loop-in-unix "Use comments to ask for more information or suggest improvements. Avoid answering questions in comments.") \| ## 4 Answers 4 Sorted by: [Reset to default](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17872159/for-loop-in-unix?answertab=scoredesc#tab-top) 3 Bash/zsh support much more faster and flexible form: ``` for ((i=1; i<$max; ++i)); ``` Don't use external commands (like seq), or backticks - it will slow down your script. [Share](https://stackoverflow.com/a/17872663 "Short permalink to this answer") [Improve this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/17872663/edit) Follow answered Jul 26, 2013 at 3:58 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1173542/leonid-volnitsky) [Leonid Volnitsky](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1173542/leonid-volnitsky) 9,25455 gold badges4242 silver badges5656 bronze badges Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments. ## Comments Add a comment 2 Maybe you can try this ``` #!/bin/sh max=10 for i in $(seq 1 $max) do echo "$i" done ``` You can see this [answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/1445507/1371471) > brace expansion, {x..y} is performed before other expansions, so you cannot use that for variable length sequences. Update: In the case of you want a sequence of custom increment, the man page of `seq` gives the following: ``` seq [-w] [-f format] [-s string] [-t string] [first [incr]] last ``` Therefore you can use `seq 1 3 $max` to get a sequence with increment 3. In general, ``` #!/bin/sh max=10 incr=3 for i in $(seq 1 $incr $max) do echo "$i" done ``` [Share](https://stackoverflow.com/a/17872236 "Short permalink to this answer") [Improve this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/17872236/edit) Follow [edited May 23, 2017 at 12:29](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/17872236/revisions "show all edits to this post") [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/-1/community) [Community](https://stackoverflow.com/users/-1/community)Bot 111 silver badge answered Jul 26, 2013 at 3:08 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1371471/lazywei) [lazywei](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1371471/lazywei) 12\.6k66 gold badges2323 silver badges2626 bronze badges ## 1 Comment Add a comment [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1173542/leonid-volnitsky) Leonid Volnitsky [Leonid Volnitsky](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1173542/leonid-volnitsky) [Over a year ago](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17872159/for-loop-in-unix#comment26475448_17872236) This is slow in comparison to built-in command. See my answer. 2013-08-06T18:44:40.373Z+00:00 0 Reply - Copy link 1 Sequence expressions of the form `{x..y}` only take place when `x` and `y` are literal numbers or single characters. It takes place before variable expansion. If the limits can include variables, use the `seq` command: ``` for i in $(seq 1 $max) ``` [Share](https://stackoverflow.com/a/17872203 "Short permalink to this answer") [Improve this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/17872203/edit) Follow answered Jul 26, 2013 at 3:04 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1491895/barmar) [Barmar](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1491895/barmar) 790k5858 gold badges555555 silver badges670670 bronze badges ## Comments Add a comment 1 The bash man page says this: > Brace expansion is performed before any other expansions, and any characters special to other expansions are preserved in the result. It is strictly tex- tual. Bash does not apply any syntactic interpretation to the context of the expansion or the text between the braces. So it appears that bash just passes through verbatim whatever text is in the braces. I wasn't familiar with that syntax, and I had to look it up. It doesn't sound like it was intended to be used in for loops. bash has newer ways of doing this, but the traditional way is ``` for i in $(seq 1 $max) do # whatever... done ``` Since pretty much anything can be done in bash with enough effort, and I couldn't turn down the challenge, here's how you could do it with braces anyway: ``` for i in $(eval echo {1..$max}) do echo $i done ``` [Share](https://stackoverflow.com/a/17872357 "Short permalink to this answer") [Improve this answer](https://stackoverflow.com/posts/17872357/edit) Follow answered Jul 26, 2013 at 3:20 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1951747/user1951747) [user1951747](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1951747/user1951747) 7133 bronze badges ## 1 Comment Add a comment [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/612462/adrian-fr%C3%BChwirth) Adrian Frühwirth [Adrian Frühwirth](https://stackoverflow.com/users/612462/adrian-fr%C3%BChwirth) [Over a year ago](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17872159/for-loop-in-unix#comment26178803_17872357) That `eval` is not needed. 2013-07-29T08:41:26.29Z+00:00 0 Reply - Copy link Start asking to get answers Find the answer to your question by asking. [Ask question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/ask) Explore related questions - [shell](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/shell "show questions tagged 'shell'") - [unix](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/unix "show questions tagged 'unix'") See similar questions with these tags. - The Overflow Blog - [No need for Ctrl+C when you have MCP](https://stackoverflow.blog/2026/03/03/no-need-for-ctrl-c-when-you-have-mcp/) - [AI-assisted coding needs more than vibes; it needs containers and sandboxes](https://stackoverflow.blog/2026/03/04/ai-assisted-coding-vibes-hardened-containers-and-sandboxes/) - Featured on Meta - [Logo updates to Stack Overflow's visual identity](https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/417394/logo-updates-to-stack-overflows-visual-identity) - [Policy: Generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT) is banned](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/421831/policy-generative-ai-e-g-chatgpt-is-banned) - [New site design and philosophy for Stack Overflow: Starting February 24, 2026...](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/438177/new-site-design-and-philosophy-for-stack-overflow-starting-february-24-2026-at "New site design and philosophy for Stack Overflow: Starting February 24, 2026 at beta.stackoverflow.com") - [I’m Jody, the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Stack Overflow. 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1 I am new to Unix programming and I am not able to figure out what is wrong with this code: ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..$max} do echo $i; done ``` If I try the above code as follows it works: ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..10} do echo $i; done ``` I have tried this: ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..`echo $max`} do echo $i; done ``` and ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..`expr $max`} do echo $i; done ``` and ``` #!/bin/sh i=1 max=10 for i in {1..`echo $max | bc`} do echo $i; done ``` But it is also not working.. Can anyone tell me how come it will work..? asked Jul 26, 2013 at 2:59 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1393856/veer-shrivastav) 0 3 Bash/zsh support much more faster and flexible form: ``` for ((i=1; i<$max; ++i)); ``` Don't use external commands (like seq), or backticks - it will slow down your script. answered Jul 26, 2013 at 3:58 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1173542/leonid-volnitsky) Comments 2 Maybe you can try this ``` #!/bin/sh max=10 for i in $(seq 1 $max) do echo "$i" done ``` You can see this [answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/1445507/1371471) > brace expansion, {x..y} is performed before other expansions, so you cannot use that for variable length sequences. Update: In the case of you want a sequence of custom increment, the man page of `seq` gives the following: ``` seq [-w] [-f format] [-s string] [-t string] [first [incr]] last ``` Therefore you can use `seq 1 3 $max` to get a sequence with increment 3. In general, ``` #!/bin/sh max=10 incr=3 for i in $(seq 1 $incr $max) do echo "$i" done ``` [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/-1/community) answered Jul 26, 2013 at 3:08 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1371471/lazywei) 1 Comment [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1173542/leonid-volnitsky) This is slow in comparison to built-in command. See my answer. 2013-08-06T18:44:40.373Z+00:00 1 Sequence expressions of the form `{x..y}` only take place when `x` and `y` are literal numbers or single characters. It takes place before variable expansion. If the limits can include variables, use the `seq` command: ``` for i in $(seq 1 $max) ``` answered Jul 26, 2013 at 3:04 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1491895/barmar) [Barmar](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1491895/barmar) 790k58 gold badges555 silver badges670 bronze badges Comments 1 The bash man page says this: > Brace expansion is performed before any other expansions, and any characters special to other expansions are preserved in the result. It is strictly tex- tual. Bash does not apply any syntactic interpretation to the context of the expansion or the text between the braces. So it appears that bash just passes through verbatim whatever text is in the braces. I wasn't familiar with that syntax, and I had to look it up. It doesn't sound like it was intended to be used in for loops. bash has newer ways of doing this, but the traditional way is ``` for i in $(seq 1 $max) do # whatever... done ``` Since pretty much anything can be done in bash with enough effort, and I couldn't turn down the challenge, here's how you could do it with braces anyway: ``` for i in $(eval echo {1..$max}) do echo $i done ``` answered Jul 26, 2013 at 3:20 [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/1951747/user1951747) 1 Comment [](https://stackoverflow.com/users/612462/adrian-fr%C3%BChwirth) That `eval` is not needed. 2013-07-29T08:41:26.29Z+00:00 Start asking to get answers Find the answer to your question by asking. [Ask question](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/ask) Explore related questions See similar questions with these tags.