What is the meaning of $0 in the Bash shell

Question

From Bash Manual

$0 Expands to the name of the shell or shell script. This is set at shell initialization.

If Bash is invoked with a file of commands (see Section 3.8 [Shell Scripts], page 39), $0 is set to the name of that file.

If Bash is started with the -c option (see Section 6.1 [Invoking Bash], page 80), then $0 is set to the first argument after the string to be executed, if one is present.

Otherwise, it is set to the filename used to invoke Bash, as given by argument zero.

I understand the first two cases, but not the last one. What do "otherwise" and "the filename used to invoke Bash" mean specifically?

Answer 1

Bash can be invoked in various ways, including directly using its executable (/bin/bash) or a link to it; this is often the case with /bin/sh. "Otherwise" covers this case, and the filename used to invoke Bash is just that — bash, sh, /bin/sh etc.

Try it and you'll see: bash then echo $0 prints bash, /bin/bash then echo $0 prints /bin/bash, etc.

Arguably this also covers shebangs but perhaps that's the first case.