This is both the most useful and engaging introduction to AWK that I've read and the most intense deprecation signal by showing how to (almost drop-in) replace

This is both the most useful and engaging introduction to AWK that I've read and the most intense deprecation signal by showing how to (almost drop-in) replace it with Ruby or Perl, which creates a terrible conflict in me. "print $1" was the most I ever used AWK. So when I read the first part (whose examples made great sense to me) I shouted "AWK is awesome! I should learn it now!". Then the last part came in and showed me how I could use a language I already know to precisely replace it. I both feel compelled that I can leverage my current knowledge right now to solve another class of problems, and sad not to learn a completely new thing.