Bash?!?!

#! /bin/bash

num="&"

case "$num" in

        & )
                echo "This works"
        ;; 
esac

why doesn't this work?

>>8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork_bomb
http://linux.die.net/man/5/limits.conf

>>1
http://tldp.org/LDP/abs/html/index.html

>>11
Methinks quoting would be more reliable.
& - reserved name. Don't use it if you don't mean it.
\& - works
'&', "&" - better. Kinda removes any doubt that it's a text string.