What Is a Shebang? Understanding #! Interpreter Directives in Scripts
A shebang (#!) line placed at the start of a script tells the operating system which interpreter to use, can include optional arguments, and may employ the env command to locate the executable, with variations such as hashbang, pound‑bang, and hash‑pling.
We often see the following at the beginning of scripts on a server:
#!/usr/bin/env node#!/bin/sh#!/usr/bin/perl -TThese characters are called a shebang (pronounced “shell bang”) and are also known as hashbang, pound‑bang, or hash‑pling. The syntax is #!interpreter_path [optional_parameters].
Note that the interpreter_path can be replaced with the env command, which uses env to locate the actual executable (for example, the path to node).
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