Using a final *) pattern in a case statement is defensive programming. The default clause should either handle unexpected
values appropriately or include a comment explaining why no action is taken.
Noncompliant code example
case "$param" in # missing default clause
0)
do_something
;;
1)
do_something_else
;;
esac
Compliant solution
case "$param" in
0)
do_something
;;
1)
do_something_else
;;
*)
error
;;
esac
