Example
4.0
Declare an associative array
declare -A aa
Declaring an associative array before initialization or use is mandatory.
Initialize elements
You can initialize elements one at a time as follows:
aa[hello]=world
aa[ab]=cd
aa["key with space"]="hello world"
You can also initialize an entire associative array in a single statement:
aa=([hello]=world [ab]=cd ["key with space"]="hello world")
Access an associative array element
echo ${aa[hello]}
# Out: world
Listing associative array keys
echo "${!aa[@]}"
#Out: hello ab key with space
Listing associative array values
echo "${aa[@]}"
#Out: world cd hello world
Iterate over associative array keys and values
for key in "${!aa[@]}"; do
echo "Key: ${key}"
echo "Value: ${array[$key]}"
done
# Out:
# Key: hello
# Value: world
# Key: ab
# Value: cd
# Key: key with space
# Value: hello world
Count associative array elements
echo "${#aa[@]}"
# Out: 3
