i dont know if i'd call its syntax bloated at all. jq is something i've hated learning but powerful beyond tying grep and awk together. jq is a tool, and like

i dont know if i'd call its syntax bloated at all. jq is something i've hated learning but powerful beyond tying grep and awk together. jq is a tool, and like every tool, requires some upfront learning. Once mastered its much more productive than the grep/awk/friends solution. Take this example JSON <pre> { "code": 42, "items": [ { "type":"color", "name":"red", "rgb": [120, 2, 2 ]}, { "type":"color", "name":"green", "rgb": [2, 120, 2]} ] } </pre> for instance, to grab the rgb field for the color green... jq -r '.items | .[] | select(.name=="green") | .rgb