In my day job I use Java, and all the items you list are good ideas to maintain my sanity. But I sometimes use Awk scripts to quickly analyse a log file to get

In my day job I use Java, and all the items you list are good ideas to maintain my sanity. But I sometimes use Awk scripts to quickly analyse a log file to get information you need or to generate a configuration file or something. I think of the strict strongly-typed nature of a language like Java as equivalent to the formal language a lawyer might use in a legal document: There shouldn't be any place for ambiguity or misunderstanding. Programming in Awk, on the other hand, is more like having an informal conversation with an old friend; those cryptic variable names is like the slang words that both of you understand and the magical syntax is like the dialect you share that may sound a bit strange to outsiders. I think there is a place for both approaches in the broad space of computing.