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Shell is an objectively _difficult_ programming language. But difficult != awful. Pointy and ready to bite you if you make a tiny mistake? Yes. Ubiquitous and n
by sgarland 3y ago
Shell is an objectively _difficult_ programming language. But difficult != awful. Pointy and ready to bite you if you make a tiny mistake? Yes. Ubiquitous and not going anywhere? Also yes.
But given that *nix tooling output defaults to text, it's hard to argue against a universal language that talks to all of it.
- bombcar 3y agoShell works because it’s the ultimate interpreter. You sus out what you need to do by hand and then convert your history into a script.
- zamnos 3y agoTBH I use Python REPL the same way whenever I encounter unknown new libraries, which is why it's my goto after Bash.
- stevebmark 3y agoIn the case of Bash, it's objectively difficult and awful.¹ ¹I have manipulated arrays in Bash, proving this statement.