Using bash to print to screen using conditional

Question

Input:

number=5
if $number > 0; echo "Yes"; else echo "No";fi

My output is:

bash: 5: command not found...
No

I only want Yes or No, so what's wrong with the syntax?

Answer 1

if requires a command (actually, a command list), not an expression. The test command is what you want. (You are also missing the then keyword, which terminates the condition.)

if test "$number" -gt 0; then
    echo "Yes"
else
    echo "No"
fi

Answer 2

For bash arithmetic, prefer modern style :

if ((number > 0)); then
    echo "Yes"
else
    echo "No"
fi

or using boolean logic :

((number > 0)) && echo "Yes" || echo "No"