[shiroiushi]

>The kind of pattern used here with the `||` might seem weird to some JavaScript developers, but it's pretty normal in shell scripts

Shell scripts are NOT known for being easy to read. They're full of obscure and sometimes frankly bizarre, arcane syntax that newcomers would have no idea about. Quick, what does "$#" mean? An experienced bash programmer would know, but no one else would. Shell scripts were never meant to be easy to read; they're just an extension of the shell syntax, and of course vary a lot from shell to shell (e.g. bash vs zsh vs ksh etc.).