diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'src/blog/new-sh')
| -rw-r--r-- | src/blog/new-sh/index.gsp | 73 |
1 files changed, 38 insertions, 35 deletions
diff --git a/src/blog/new-sh/index.gsp b/src/blog/new-sh/index.gsp index 4646042..9da8e39 100644 --- a/src/blog/new-sh/index.gsp +++ b/src/blog/new-sh/index.gsp @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ html lang="en" { body { header { div { - h1 {-POSIX Pitfalls} + h1 {-m4_abbr(POSIX) Pitfalls} m4_include(nav.gsp) } @@ -26,15 +26,16 @@ html lang="en" { h2 #prologue {-Prologue} p {- Since the moment I decided to take software development more seriously, - I have been absolutely enamored by the Shell @x-ref{-1} — the POSIX - shell to be more specific. The syntax is questionable at times, and the - available resources outside of the POSIX specification itself are - absolutely piss-poor as a result of the average *NIX user failing to - understand the difference between @code{-/bin/sh} and Bash @x-ref{-2}. - What @em{-really} drew me into the Shell was the powerful idea of - composability, and being able to combine simple tools to form a much - more powerful one in only a handful of lines. I talked more about this - @a href="/blog/extend" {-in my previous post}. + I have been absolutely enamored by the Shell @x-ref{-1} — the + m4_abbr(POSIX) shell to be more specific. The syntax is questionable + at times, and the available resources outside of the m4_abbr(POSIX) + specification itself are absolutely piss-poor as a result of the + average *NIX user failing to understand the difference between + @code{-/bin/sh} and Bash @x-ref{-2}. What @em{-really} drew me into the + Shell was the powerful idea of composability, and being able to combine + simple tools to form a much more powerful one in only a handful of + lines. I talked more about this @a href="/blog/extend" {-in my + previous post}. } p {- @@ -44,18 +45,18 @@ html lang="en" { century in age. It some things right — like the idea that you can use loops and conditional statements in a pipeline — but it also got a lot of things wrong, and these are things that we can improve on. The most - obvious deficiency in POSIX shells is the absolutely abhorrent handling - of whitespace. + obvious deficiency in m4_abbr(POSIX) shells is the absolutely abhorrent + handling of whitespace. } p {- - There have been quite a few alternatives to the POSIX shell made over - the years, although I find this to be an area that is shockingly - underdeveloped. If you’re reading this, I implore you to attempt to - design your own shell, no matter how simple. If you know how to make - one, you can experiment with new ideas! If you don’t, it’s a really - great learning experience, even if all your shell can do is spawn a - process. + There have been quite a few alternatives to the m4_abbr(POSIX) shell + made over the years, although I find this to be an area that is + shockingly underdeveloped. If you’re reading this, I implore you to + attempt to design your own shell, no matter how simple. If you know + how to make one, you can experiment with new ideas! If you don’t, it’s + a really great learning experience, even if all your shell can do is + spawn a process. } aside { @@ -69,16 +70,17 @@ html lang="en" { } } - h2 #alternatives {-Alternatives to POSIX} + h2 #alternatives {-Alternatives to m4_abbr(POSIX)} p {- There are a few alternatives shells that have managed to garner a - respectable userbase. Fish, Powershell, Nushell, and Elvish just - to name the ones I can think of off the top of my head have all managed - to get a userbase while giving the finger to POSIX. I do believe that - ditching POSIX is a necessity to create a half-decent modern shell. I - have used Fish for close to a year before and it is probably my favorite - of the bunch; it tries to do its own thing with its own ideas, but it - still remains highly familiar for those coming from POSIX. + respectable userbase. Fish, Powershell, Nushell, and Elvish just to + name the ones I can think of off the top of my head have all managed to + get a userbase while giving the finger to m4_abbr(POSIX). I do believe + that ditching m4_abbr(POSIX) is a necessity to create a half-decent + modern shell. I have used Fish for close to a year before and it is + probably my favorite of the bunch; it tries to do its own thing with + its own ideas, but it still remains highly familiar for those coming + from m4_abbr(POSIX). } p {- @@ -130,7 +132,8 @@ html lang="en" { p {- Take process redirection for example. To properly compare the outputs - of two processes in POSIX shell, we need to do this whole rigmarole: + of two processes in m4_abbr(POSIX) shell, we need to do this whole + rigmarole: } figure { @@ -158,13 +161,13 @@ html lang="en" { } p {- - There are a few fundamental ‘problems’ I want to fix in Andy. The first - is whitespace handling; safe POSIX shell scripts will contain almost as - many quotation marks to avoid word-splitting as Lisp programs contain - parenthesis. This is an absolute must, under no circumstance should - strings be expanding into even more strings without the explicit consent - of the user; it’s a recipe for disaster and it’s the shell-equivelant of - the null-pointer-exception. + There are a few fundamental ‘problems’ I want to fix in Andy. The + first is whitespace handling; safe m4_abbr(POSIX) shell scripts will + contain almost as many quotation marks to avoid word-splitting as Lisp + programs contain parenthesis. This is an absolute must, under no + circumstance should strings be expanding into even more strings without + the explicit consent of the user; it’s a recipe for disaster and it’s + the shell-equivelant of the null-pointer-exception. } p {- |