4 ms·

It's 2020. Friends don't let friends write shell scripts.

etaioinshrdlu 7y ago
me: What if there was a programming language as inconsistent and terrible as English, maybe it would be uniquely easy for humans to understand? bfox (wrote bash): Nah, Bash disproves that.
- zbentley 7y ago
  larry wall (wrote perl): hold my beer
- krackers 7y ago
  Applescript takes the cake there. Instead of standard indexing/dereferencing rules in the object hierarchy you instead have this nested mess of "tell X .... end tell"
humblebee 7y ago
What do you recommend instead?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
BossingAround 7y ago
When I first came into the world of SWE, I thought "why would anyone use Bash nowadays when we have Python?" A colleague answered me: "If we left, there's around 500 people in this building who could support my Bash script, and around 50 Python people." It kind of stuck with me. At this point, I feel like Bash is one of the common tongues between all tech roles (that deal with Linux, that is). Python, while nice, is a lot more niche, since you really have to be into development to know Python, while every sysadmin worth their salt can debug a Bash script. And, of course, every SWE, TSE, DOE, .... worth their salt know Bash scripts as well. If you want to get a job (in the Linux land), bash scripting is typically an "of course".
- dnpp123 7y ago
  This highly depends on the building you are in, I guess.
- baby 7y ago
  woot, this is definitely wrong in my experience. Most people can read/write python to some degree, and even if you don't know python you can quickly ramp up to understand a config file or a simple program. On the other hand most people don't write bash scripts and usually have to deal with them when encountering legacy systems or languages.
- DonHopkins 7y ago
  What planet do you live on?
- hapless 7y ago
  That conversation was your cue to get a new job, because your colleague earnestly believed that 90% of your coworkers were incompetent, and told you so point blank. That's not a good sign.
arpa 7y ago
I swear this is my last shell script.
pkrumins 7y ago
I'll be writing shell scripts till 2030 and possibly beyond. Once you learn all these tricks, it's very effective at getting Unix tasks done.

me: What if there was a programming language as inconsistent and terrible as English, maybe it would be uniquely easy for humans to understand? bfox (wrote bash): Nah, Bash disproves that.

zbentley 7y ago
larry wall (wrote perl): hold my beer
krackers 7y ago
Applescript takes the cake there. Instead of standard indexing/dereferencing rules in the object hierarchy you instead have this nested mess of "tell X .... end tell"

humblebee 7y ago

What do you recommend instead?

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

BossingAround 7y ago

When I first came into the world of SWE, I thought "why would anyone use Bash nowadays when we have Python?" A colleague answered me: "If we left, there's around 500 people in this building who could support my Bash script, and around 50 Python people." It kind of stuck with me. At this point, I feel like Bash is one of the common tongues between all tech roles (that deal with Linux, that is). Python, while nice, is a lot more niche, since you really have to be into development to know Python, while every sysadmin worth their salt can debug a Bash script. And, of course, every SWE, TSE, DOE, .... worth their salt know Bash scripts as well. If you want to get a job (in the Linux land), bash scripting is typically an "of course".

dnpp123 7y ago
This highly depends on the building you are in, I guess.
baby 7y ago
woot, this is definitely wrong in my experience. Most people can read/write python to some degree, and even if you don't know python you can quickly ramp up to understand a config file or a simple program. On the other hand most people don't write bash scripts and usually have to deal with them when encountering legacy systems or languages.
DonHopkins 7y ago
What planet do you live on?
hapless 7y ago
That conversation was your cue to get a new job, because your colleague earnestly believed that 90% of your coworkers were incompetent, and told you so point blank. That's not a good sign.

arpa 7y ago

I swear this is my last shell script.

pkrumins 7y ago

I'll be writing shell scripts till 2030 and possibly beyond. Once you learn all these tricks, it's very effective at getting Unix tasks done.