23 ms·

At that point, just use an actual programming language instead of a shell...

• coldtea 7y ago
  That misses the whole point - that there shouldn't be any difference. Shells already behave like programming languages just bad ones. The reason people use them over a "bona fide" programming language is their command line editing, easy process handling, first class support for job control, access to environment and pipes. One could use a non-shell programming language, but then he'd have a much harder time with all the later - even though he'll have a much better time with abstraction, programming correctness, error handling, first class data structures, and so on. So we're in an either (shell+easy command line use+process handling/job control/pipes etc) or (programming language+better syntax-cohesion-correctness-better error handling-libraries-first class data structures-and on on). There are things in IT that can't be combined because one is a tradeoff to the other. This is not such a case - this is just a historical accident: crappy language features in shells and crappy job control features in programming languages. But there's no reason one can't have all those latter things in a proper programming language. Which is what Oil is.