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