Which shell operator is used to execute a second command only if the first succeeds?

• A. ||
• B. grep
• C. &&
• D. >

Answer: (C)

When you want to run a second command only if the first one completes successfully, you use the logical AND operator, written as &&. This works by executing the first command and checking its exit status: if it’s zero (success), the second command runs; if the first fails (non-zero exit status), the second command is skipped. This pattern is useful for chaining steps that must succeed before proceeding, such as compiling code then running tests (compile && test). The other options don’t provide this conditional execution: the || operator runs the second command only if the first fails, and redirection > simply directs output to a file, while grep is just a search command, not a control operator.