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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 arou
by 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 agoThis highly depends on the building you are in, I guess.
- baby 7y agowoot, 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 agoWhat planet do you live on?
- hapless 7y agoThat 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.