case in Bash

From the Bash Scripting cheat sheet · case Statements · verified Jul 2026

Match a value against patterns.

bash

# Quick Reference
case "$1" in
    start) echo "starting" ;;
    stop)  echo "stopping" ;;
    *)     echo "usage: start|stop" ;;
esac

💡 case matches glob patterns (not regex): * ? [..] and | for alternatives.

⚡ Each branch ends with ;; - forgetting it is a common syntax error.

📌 The *) branch is the catch-all default - put it last.

🟢 case is cleaner than a long if/elif chain when branching on one value.

casebranching