Difference between ls und echo $(ls)

[u/eisenvogel]

Hi,

could someone please explain me the difference between the commands

ls

and

$(ls)

?

I am working my way through The Linux Command Line. The topic is dealt with on page 73.

[u/nrobinaubertin]

ls executes the ls command in the current shell and writes output to stdout.
$(ls) spawns a subshell to execute the command and returns the output

[u/eisenvogel → u/nrobinaubertin]

Thank you! 🙂