Joining all positional arguments into one word | LinuC Level 1 102 Exam original practice question

1.06.2Basic

Pass the arguments alpha, two words, and omega to printf as one word joined by the first character of IFS.

This is not a transfer that preserves separate argument boundaries.

Which expansion is appropriate?

Hint 1: Focus on the input model

Separate word-list iteration, condition-controlled loops, field splitting, and literal input handling before comparing the choices.

Hint 2: Key terms

Review the short definitions of the shell syntax, parameters, permissions, and control flow involved.

"$*": An expansion that joins all positional arguments into one argument using the first IFS character.
"$@": An expansion that passes each positional argument as a separate quoted argument.
$@: An unquoted positional-argument expansion subject to word splitting and globbing.
"$#": An expansion that passes the positional-argument count as one argument.
IFS: The shell setting that supplies separators for word splitting and argument joining.

Detailed explanation

Incorrect$@

Incorrect. Unquoted expansion is subject to word splitting and glob expansion.

Incorrect"$@"

Incorrect. Quoted $@ expands each positional argument separately.

Correct"$*"

Correct. Quoted $* joins all positional arguments into one word.

Incorrect"$#"

Incorrect. Quoted $# expands only the argument count.

An example you can run in a temporary verification environment.

sh -c 'IFS=,; printf "<%s>\n" "$*"' join alpha 'two words' omega

<alpha,two words,omega>

Foundation review

A reusable group of commands that runs in the caller's shell context.

A numbered argument or special value supplied to a script or function.

Conditions, loops, and exit statuses determine which shell commands run.

Question IDKL-102-935

EnvironmentPOSIX sh / 短命プロセス

Last technical review2026-08-13

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