printf: printf [-v var] format [arguments]
Formats and prints ARGUMENTS under control of the FORMAT.
display it on the standard output
FORMAT is a character string which contains three types of objects: plain characters, which are simply copied to standard output; character escape sequences, which are converted and copied to the standard output; and format specifications, each of which causes printing of the next successive argument.
In addition to the standard format specifications described in printf(1) and printf(3), printf interprets:
%b expand backslash escape sequences in the corresponding argument %q quote the argument in a way that can be reused as shell input
Exit Status:
Returns success unless an invalid option is given or a write or assignment
error occurs.