4 ms·
I think there comes a time for any unix user when you reach a break-even point - the added productivity of shell commands is greater than the head-scratching, g
by phugoid 15y ago
I think there comes a time for any unix user when you reach a break-even point - the added productivity of shell commands is greater than the head-scratching, googling and man page searches.
I remember finally 'getting it', and asking myself why anyone would want a computer where you don't have such tools.
My main gripe with the shell at this point is inconsistencies in syntax from one command to another, especially when it means different dialects of regex.
- tambourine_man 15y agoMy main gripe with the shell at this point is inconsistencies in syntax from one command to another, especially when it means different dialects of regex. Check out Perl. Part of its raison d'être is to deal with this very frustration.
- shabble 15y agoPerl is awesome for it's one-liner abilities, but you still have to dance around the shell quoting issues, which can vary from shell to shell. Remembering exactly what needs to be escaped and how can get sufficiently tedious to just put the script into a file instead. That said, there are some nice constructs such as: q(some string); # same as a single-quoted string qq(another $string); # double-quoted string. qx(); # backticks, or $() in bash.