Shell script and programming language

Question

For many tasks that I have to perform, I have to choose between creating a program using the Script shell in Linux or in a programming language such as Java or Groovy. Does anyone know how I should choose one after another and why?

Answer 1

Shell scripts are great for concise file system operations and writing combinations of existing functions in filters and command line tools through pipes.

When your needs are greater - be it functionality, reliability, performance, efficiency, etc. - then you can switch to a more fully functional language. They usually offer some combination:

• security type
• more advanced containers
• better control over the lifetime of variables and memory usage
• thread-cutting
• advanced IPC, such as shared memory and TCP / IP
• Full binary I / O, access to memory files, etc.
• access to the OS API and many powerful libraries
• improved readability and maintainability as the size of the project increases.
• support for more advanced programming paradigms: object orientation, functional programming, generative programming, etc.
• better error checking before your program starts, therefore, less dependent on the coverage of the test case.

Answer 2

@Tony provides an excellent list of pros and cons. I would add another common scenario - shell scripts, because it is so convenient that it might seem that “there is nothing longer than a temporary solution”, which is typical for all the attendant maintenance problems when someone else needs to use it.

Answer 3

Shell script is the most intuitive way to have glue on your system. However, it does not have some useful concepts, such as inheritance and modulation, that languages ​​such as Python (which are very used to "gluing" systems) have.

True, the use of the language depends mainly on the task you are trying to do. In most cases I worked, the shell script worked well, although I use a lot of Python to perform system-related tasks. I don't think Java would be an alternative in this case. Groovy will probably be, but not Java (I mean Java as a language, not Java as a platform.)

In sysadmin view, I think Python and Ruby are amazing languages. Not only because of the dynamic typing and the lack of the need to compile, but also because tools such as Fabric , Capistrano , Puppet and many others, which greatly simplifies the life of the system administrator :-)