For readability, redirections are usually placed last but indeed they can be intermixed with all the other words in the command and this is specified by the POSIX standard (so it's not bash-specific either):
'A "simple command" is a sequence of optional variable assignments and redirections, in any sequence, optionally followed by words and redirections, terminated by a control operator.'
Comments
For readability, redirections are usually placed last but indeed they can be intermixed with all the other words in the command and this is specified by the POSIX standard (so it's not bash-specific either):
http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009604599/utilities/xcu...
'A "simple command" is a sequence of optional variable assignments and redirections, in any sequence, optionally followed by words and redirections, terminated by a control operator.'