gawk: Foreword4

1 
1 Foreword to the Fourth Edition
1 ******************************
1 
1 Some things don't change.  Thirteen years ago I wrote: "If you use AWK
1 or want to learn how, then read this book."  True then, and still true
1 today.
1 
1    Learning to use a programming language is about more than mastering
1 the syntax.  One needs to acquire an understanding of how to use the
1 features of the language to solve practical programming problems.  A
1 focus of this book is many examples that show how to use AWK.
1 
1    Some things do change.  Our computers are much faster and have more
1 memory.  Consequently, speed and storage inefficiencies of a high-level
1 language matter less.  Prototyping in AWK and then rewriting in C for
1 performance reasons happens less, because more often the prototype is
1 fast enough.
1 
1    Of course, there are computing operations that are best done in C or
1 C++.  With 'gawk' 4.1 and later, you do not have to choose between
1 writing your program in AWK or in C/C++.  You can write most of your
1 program in AWK and the aspects that require C/C++ capabilities can be
1 written in C/C++, and then the pieces glued together when the 'gawk'
11 module loads the C/C++ module as a dynamic plug-in.  ⇒Dynamic
 Extensions, has all the details, and, as expected, many examples to
1 help you learn the ins and outs.
1 
1    I enjoy programming in AWK and had fun (re)reading this book.  I
1 think you will too.
1 
1      Michael Brennan
1      Author of 'mawk'
1      October 2014
1