Currently, all the mainstream operating systems are using Bash as their default shell. However, many programmers like Zsh for its better interactive features.

Below we list several common different behaviors between Bash and Zsh, along with workarounds to write shell-neutral scripts that work in both shells.

DO NOT over checking!

bash

if [ -f XXX ] then
   ...
fi

Suspecting everything itself is suspicious: If the file checked is a well committed file in this repo, DO NOT check for it existence at all! If you are not sure, use git ls-files XXX to check if it is tracked by git.

Similarly for environment variables, check setup.sh and session-init.sh to see if these variables are always set by those scripts. If so, DO NOT -z or -n check them!

Array Indexing

bash

arr=(apple banana cherry)
echo ${arr[0]}  # apple
echo ${arr[1]}  # banana

zsh

arr=(apple banana cherry)
echo ${arr[1]}  # apple
echo ${arr[2]}  # banana

Shell-neutral workaround:

Option 1: Force ksh-style arrays in zsh

zsh

#!/bin/bash  # or #!/bin/zsh
[ -n "$ZSH_VERSION" ] && setopt KSH_ARRAYS
arr=(apple banana cherry)
echo ${arr[0]}  # apple in both

Option 2: Avoid use traversal

zsh

for item in "${arr[@]}"; do
    echo "$item"
done

Additionally, when parsing positional arguments, extract them to variables directly:

bash

for item in "$@"; do
    case $item in
        --option)
            option_value="$2"
            shift 2
            ;;
        *)
            positional_args+=("$item")
            shift
            ;;
    esac
done

Script Path Detection

bash

echo "$0"              # /path/to/script.sh (or bash if sourced)
echo "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}"  # /path/to/script.sh (always reliable)

zsh

echo "$0"              # /path/to/script.sh (or function name if sourced!)
echo "${(%):-%x}"      # /path/to/script.sh (reliable)
# BASH_SOURCE doesn't exist in zsh

Shell-neutral workaround:

A reliable way to get the script path in both shells:

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Get script path reliably in both shells
if [ -n "$BASH_SOURCE" ]; then
    SCRIPT_PATH="${BASH_SOURCE[0]}"
elif [ -n "$ZSH_VERSION" ]; then
    SCRIPT_PATH="${(%):-%x}"
else
    SCRIPT_PATH="$0"
fi

SCRIPT_DIR="$(dirname "$SCRIPT_PATH")"
echo "Script location: $SCRIPT_DIR"

Another option is to reply on environment variables exported by setup.sh and we use absolute paths based on those or absolute paths by git rev-parse.

Variable Expansion & Word Splitting

bash

var="one two three"
echo $var       # one two three (3 arguments, split!)
echo "$var"     # one two three (1 argument, safe)

for word in $var; do echo "$word"; done
# Outputs: one / two / three

zsh

var="one two three"
echo $var       # one two three (1 argument, NO split by default!)
echo "$var"     # one two three (1 argument)

for word in $var; do echo "$word"; done
# Outputs: one two three (as single item!)


# Need explicit splitting in zsh:
for word in ${=var}; do echo "$word"; done
# Outputs: one / two / three

Shell-neutral workaround:

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Always quote variables for safety
var="one two three"
echo "$var"

# For intentional splitting, use arrays:
read -ra words <<< "$var"
for word in "${words[@]}"; do
    echo "$word"
done

Globbing

bash

# Recursive glob needs enabling
shopt -s globstar
echo **/*.txt

# No ** support without the option
echo *.txt  # Only current directory

zsh

# Recursive glob works by default
echo **/*.txt

# Advanced patterns
echo **/*.txt~*test*  # Exclude files with 'test'
echo *.txt(.)         # Only regular files

Shell-neutral workaround:

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Option 1: Use find instead of globs
find . -name "*.txt" -type f

# Option 2: Enable globstar in bash, works in zsh by default
if [ -n "$BASH_VERSION" ]; then
    shopt -s globstar
fi
echo **/*.txt

# Option 3: Stick to simple globs
echo *.txt

Arrays & Associative Arrays

Bash:

bash

# Indexed array
arr=(a b c)
echo ${arr[0]}  # a

# Associative array
declare -A map
map[key1]="value1"
map[key2]="value2"
echo ${map[key1]}  # value1

Zsh:

zsh

# Indexed array (1-based!)
arr=(a b c)
echo ${arr[1]}  # a

# Associative array (different syntax)
typeset -A map
map=(key1 value1 key2 value2)
# OR
map[key1]="value1"
echo ${map[key1]}  # value1

Shell-neutral workaround:

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Force bash-compatible arrays in zsh
[ -n "$ZSH_VERSION" ] && setopt KSH_ARRAYS

# Now arrays work the same way
arr=(a b c)
echo ${arr[0]}  # a in both

# For associative arrays, use bash syntax
declare -A map 2>/dev/null || typeset -A map  # Works in both
map[key1]="value1"
echo ${map[key1]}

## PATH Variable
```zsh
local path="screwed"
echo $PATH # screwed

In zsh, $path is an array view of the PATH variable, which can lead to confusion. In bash, $path is just a regular variable.

Solution: Always use $PATH for environment variable access, and avoid using $path as variable name!

Key Recommendations

•Use #!/bin/bash as shebang (more portable)
•Add setopt KSH_ARRAYS at the top if you must support zsh
•Always quote variables: "$var" not $var
•Use "${arr[@]}" for array expansion
•Use the script path template for reliable path detection
•Use find instead of complex globs for portability
•Avoid using $path as in zsh, it is different view of the sameting, $PATH