The variable expansion is the method we have to access and actually change the content of a variable or parameter. The simplest way to access or reference the variable value is as in the following example:
x=1 ; echo $x zarrelli:~$ x=1 ; echo $x1
So, we assigned a value to the variable x and then referenced the value preceding the variable name with the dollar sign $. So, echo$x prints the content of x, 1, to the standard output. But we can do something even more subtle:
zarrelli:~$ x=1 ; y=$x; echo "x is $x" ; echo "y is $y"x is 1y is 1
So, we gave a value to the variable x, then we instanced the variable y referencing the content of the variable x. So, y got its assignment referencing the value of x through the $ character, ...
