This comment thread suggests that Knuth's approach is better, i.e., the shell script version doesn't really explain why, what, or how it is doing what it is doi

This comment thread suggests that Knuth's approach is better, i.e., the shell script version doesn't really explain why, what, or how it is doing what it is doing. It could have been improved by being written in a literate style that explains how each UNIX command line tool is being used and why; and would have executed in exactly the same way.