This 45 year-old Unix tool is finally getting an upgrade

AWK, a software platform first introduced in 1977, has finally received a long-awaited update almost half a century after its inception. W...

AWK, a software platform first introduced in 1977, has finally received a long-awaited update almost half a century after its inception.

What makes the launch more impressive is that it is the work of 80-year-old Canadian computer scientist Brian Kernighan, part of the team behind the software's acronym itself (AWK - Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan).

POSIX compliance in operating system terms requires that it includes AWK, a programming language that’s destined to analyze text files. It first appeared in Version 7 UNIX in 1979, which is credited with being the last version of UNIX created by Bell Labs before it was commercialized by AT&T. Other POSIX-certified OSs include macOS, VxWorks, and z/OS.

AWK update

In a GitHub entry, Kernighan writes about the update entitles “Add BWK's email”. He says:

“Finally, with a bit of spare time after the academic treadmill slows, I have gotten back to futzing around with Unicode in awk.”

He writes that he now has it “mostly” working, “through a combination of using utf-8 internally for functions like length(), and conversion to utf-32 in regular expressions.”

Found in the update is one realloc bug, which leads Kernighan to suspect that they may be more. A “fair amount” of testing has already been undertaken, but he writes that “clearly more tests are needed.”

Comments in the thread highlight the significance of the update, and include one-liners like “wow” and “respect”. 

The Register reports that the code was actually changed earlier in 2022, but was only picked up by wider audiences thanks to a recently released interview with Kernighan.



from TechRadar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/V72f9tr
via IFTTT

COMMENTS

BLOGGER
Name

Apps,3858,Business,151,Camera,1155,Earn $$$,3,Gadgets,1741,Games,926,GTA,1,Innovations,3,Mobile,1697,Paid Promotions,5,Promotions,5,Sports,1,Technology,8106,Trailers,796,Travel,37,Trending,4,Trendly News,25335,TrendlyNews,110,Video,5,XIAOMI,13,YouTube - 9to5Google,109,
ltr
item
Trendly News | #ListenNow #Everyday #100ShortNews #TopTrendings #PopularNews #Reviews #TrendlyNews: This 45 year-old Unix tool is finally getting an upgrade
This 45 year-old Unix tool is finally getting an upgrade
Trendly News | #ListenNow #Everyday #100ShortNews #TopTrendings #PopularNews #Reviews #TrendlyNews
http://www.trendlynews.in/2022/12/this-45-year-old-unix-tool-is-finally.html
http://www.trendlynews.in/
http://www.trendlynews.in/
http://www.trendlynews.in/2022/12/this-45-year-old-unix-tool-is-finally.html
true
3372890392287038985
UTF-8
Loaded All Posts Not found any posts VIEW ALL Readmore Reply Cancel reply Delete By Home PAGES POSTS View All RECOMMENDED FOR YOU LABEL ARCHIVE SEARCH ALL POSTS Not found any post match with your request Back Home Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat January February March April May June July August September October November December Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec just now 1 minute ago $$1$$ minutes ago 1 hour ago $$1$$ hours ago Yesterday $$1$$ days ago $$1$$ weeks ago more than 5 weeks ago Followers Follow THIS PREMIUM CONTENT IS LOCKED STEP 1: Share. STEP 2: Click the link you shared to unlock Copy All Code Select All Code All codes were copied to your clipboard Can not copy the codes / texts, please press [CTRL]+[C] (or CMD+C with Mac) to copy