Final answer:
In a bash shell script, a case statement can be used instead of several nested if statements to simplify complex conditional logic, making scripts more compact and easier to read.
Step-by-step explanation:
The command that can be used to replace several nested if statements in a bash shell script is the case statement. The case statement simplifies complex conditional logic by matching a variable against a set of patterns. Each pattern can have its own associated commands that run if the pattern matches the value of the variable.
The syntax of the case statement is as follows:
case in
pattern1)
# Commands for pattern1
;;
pattern2)
# Commands for pattern2
;;
*)
# Default case
;;
esac
This is more compact and easier to read than multiple, nested if-else statements. As the script evaluates the case statement, it executes the commands associated with the first matching pattern, effectively replacing the need for several conditional checks.