[TUHS] The AWK Programming Language, 2nd Ed.: What's new?

[arnold at skeeve.com]

Hi Mary Anne.

Mary Ann Horton <mah at mhorton.net> wrote:

> Which Git repo?  The CSV code is a game changer for awk, otherwise I 
> need a hokey python script.

https://github.com/onetrueawk/awk. This was mentioned in the
note you quoted...

> Is it being merged into the Gnu awk ...

Also mentioned is that the code is already in gawk's master
branch and that I will make a release in the fall, I hope.

> ... that will wind up in Red Hat awk? 
> Please please?

I have no control over that. Sorry.  However, gawk is easy to
build and install from tarball, or if you're desperate, directly
from Git.  Be in touch privately if you want more info.

Thanks,

Arnold

> Thanks,
>
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>
> On 9/13/23 14:28, arnold at skeeve.com wrote:
> > Hello All.
> >
> > For whoever's interested, the csv code has been merged into the master
> > branch of the Git repo.  Have fun!
> >
> > Arnold
> >
> >> From: arnold at skeeve.com (arnold at skeeve.com)
> >> Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2023 13:41:34 -0600
> >> Subject: [TUHS] The AWK Programming Language, 2nd Ed.: What's new?
> >>
> >> Hi.
> >>
> >> markus schnalke <meillo at marmaro.de> wrote:
> >>
> >>> Hoi,
> >>>
> >>> I just discovered that one of my favorite computer books about my
> >>> best liked programming language (besides C) releases in a second
> >>> edition. Does anyone know what the differences of 1st and 2nd
> >>> edition are?
> >>>
> >>> As the original book is almost perfect, the only rework and
> >>> extension direction I can think of is towards different
> >>> implementations like gawk, mawk, portability and such things.
> >>>
> >>> Does anyone know more about it? Maybe some inside information? ;-)
> >>>
> >>> meillo
> >> Inside information? As it happens, yes, I do have some. :-)
> >> (I was a reviewer.)
> >>
> >> [In the below, "awk" means Brian Kernighan's awk.]
> >>
> >> In the 36 (!) years since the first edition was published, awk
> >> has undergone, shall we say, a large number of small changes. These
> >> are listed in the FIXES file currently in the master branch of
> >> https://github.com/onetrueawk/awk.
> >>
> >> In addition, Brian Kernighan decided to add support for UTF-8 input,
> >> which is what awk now expects, and support for CSV input files when
> >> invoked with the --csv option. Furthermore, there is a new \u escape
> >> sequence which must be followed by 1-8 hexadecimal digits for specifying
> >> Unicode code points.
> >>
> >> The book itself has been carefully revised. The large second chapter
> >> which was a reference to the full language was moved to an appendix.
> >> Many of the example programs from the first edition were retained
> >> and updated, but there is also quite of lot of pleasing new material.
> >>
> >> There is mention of, and occasional comparison with, gawk, mawk and
> >> Ben Hoyt's GoAwk, but by and large the focus is on the authors' version.
> >>
> >> The new code is currently in the "csv" branch of the above Github
> >> repo.  The maintainer is in the process of tidying up the repo (dealing
> >> with issues and pull requests) and will merge the csv branch into
> >> master sometime in the very near future.
> >>
> >> I'm told that the printed books with get to the publisher's warehouse
> >> towards the end of September. The book is available now on O'Reilly's
> >> Safari learning site (safari.oreilly.com) for anyone who has a
> >> subscription.
> >>
> >> Matching code (--csv and \u) are in gawk's master branch now. I will
> >> make a release this fall, after the new code has moved into master
> >> in BWK's awk.
> >>
> >> I heartily recommend the book; it is totally up to Brian Kernighan's
> >> usual very high standard.
> >>
> >> Enjoy,
> >>
> >> Arnold
> >>