Re: Unix Tools

From: Walt R (wmreinemer_at_tns.net)
Date: 10/24/03 

Date: 23 Oct 2003 21:46:42 -0700

Alan Connor <zzzzzz@xxx.yyy> wrote in message news:<JH%lb.3593$wc3.2929@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>...
> On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 01:22:25 +0000 (UTC), Gregory L. Hansen <glhansen@steel.ucs.indiana.edu> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > When I read about Unix tools there seems to be a lot of overlap between
> > them, like
> >
> > shells
> > awk
> > sed
> > Perl
> > Python
> > C
> > tcl/tk
> > Java
> > Lisp
> >
> > What's a beginner to do that can only learn one at a time? If I learn
> > Perl, is there any reason at all to look at awk and sed? What does Python
> > do that Perl doesn't? I like the thought of the C/tcl/tk combination,
> > e.g. a simple way to put a graphical interface on my C apps, or so the
> > legends go, but has Java made that obsolete? What does anyone use Lisp
> > for?
> >
> > Please share some opinions.
> >
> >
>
> The shell is a command interpreter which stands between you and the kernel.
>
> Sed is an editor, the rest are programming languages with various focusses,
> or, in the case of C, a general language.
>
> The shell includes a high-level and immensely practical programming language,
> and you would be very wise to learn an sh-compatible shell like bash or zsh,
> before tackling any of the other languages.
>
> And then, once you have a handle on 'sh', skip the rest and go for broke:
> learn C, (which most of the others are written in :-)
>
> Learn the stream editor sed because it is very, very useful.

The "Advanced Bash Scripting Guide" available at tldp.org is
worth reading. It has many commented scripts.

Walt R.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Unix Tools
    ... > Perl, is there any reason at all to look at awk and sed? ... The shell is a command interpreter which stands between you and the kernel. ... Sed is an editor, the rest are programming languages with various focusses, ...
    (comp.os.linux.setup)
  • Re: Unix Tools
    ... > Perl, is there any reason at all to look at awk and sed? ... The shell is a command interpreter which stands between you and the kernel. ... Sed is an editor, the rest are programming languages with various focusses, ...
    (comp.unix.questions)
  • Re: Unix Tools
    ... is there any reason at all to look at awk and sed? ... What does anyone use Lisp ... > The shell is a command interpreter which stands between you and the kernel. ... > Sed is an editor, the rest are programming languages with various focusses, ...
    (comp.os.linux.setup)
  • Re: accumulator in awk
    ... > is awk, not shell and variables are referred to by just their name, just ... > like in C or other programming languages. ...
    (comp.unix.shell)
  • Re: Small Lisp to work with small operating system?
    ... what you are describing here with numerical error codes (and even shell commands, actually) is very much a UNIX design. ... Common Lisp has a great condition system, you should consider using it, or, if you want UNIX, run a UNIX-based Lisp. ... The shell will have its own external-code-check function and condition classes, but the user could substitute if they wanted to. ...
    (comp.lang.lisp)