Comment by illo

> [ a = b ] && echo "Oops!" || echo "Expected; phew!"

Not to be taken as a general rule though. I might be mistaken but I think that bash would parse the line as:

  ([ a = b ] && echo "Oops!") || echo "Expected; phew!"

so if the command sequence after `&&` fails, then the code sequence after `||` is executed anyway:

  illo@joe:~ $ [ "a" == "a" ] && >/dev/full echo "strings match" || echo "strings don't match"
  -bash: echo: write error: No space left on device
  strings don't match
  illo@joe:~ $

This is different from the semantics of the `if` block:

  illo@joe:~ $ if [ "a" == "a" ]; then >/dev/full echo "strings match"; else echo "strings don't match"; fi
  -bash: echo: write error: No space left on device
  illo@joe:~ $