#!/bin/bash my_number=$1 my_other_number=$2 # the test keyword can be used to return a true or false statement based off of what parameters we pass to it, generally speaking though, we won't get an output unless we explicitly place 'test' within an 'if' statement. if (test "$my_number" != "$my_other_number"); then echo "yeah, those are NOT equal!" else echo "nah, those two numbers are equal!" fi