When it comes to learning awk, my suggestion is to read the man file of one of the simpler implementations; original-awk[0] or plan9's[1] awk. They lack the GNU

When it comes to learning awk, my suggestion is to read the man file of one of the simpler implementations; original-awk[0] or plan9's[1] awk. They lack the GNU additions (many of which admittedly are useful), but they decrease the learning curve a lot. I pushed off learning awk for years since I got overwhelmed every time I typed 'man awk', but after stumbling on the man page from plan9 I learned it in no time. Sure, I don't know all the GNU extensions in gawk, but now I can look them up when I need them. [0] https://manpages.debian.org/stretch/original-awk/awk.1.en.html https://manpages.debian.org/stretch/original-awk/awk.1.en.ht... [1] https://www.unix.com/man-page/plan9/1/AWK/ https://www.unix.com/man-page/plan9/1/AWK/