- Регистрация
- 1 Мар 2015
- Сообщения
- 1,481
- Баллы
- 155
Today’s Deal:
- ? Instant download. One-time price (less than a single coffee).
Bash is powerful… until it’s not. After years of writing quick shell scripts to automate tasks, I found myself constantly debugging cryptic syntax errors, escaping characters like a magician, and rewriting the same utilities over and over. That’s when I started replacing entire Bash scripts with Python one-liners—and it changed everything.
In this post, I’ll show you how and why you might want to make the switch too.
? The Problem With Bash: Readability and Reusability
Bash is fantastic for:
- Chaining commands
- File manipulations
- Writing quick cron jobs
But even a simple script like this:
for file in *.txt; do
echo "Processing $file"
grep "ERROR" "$file" >> errors.log
done
Can become a nightmare once you:
- Add conditional logic
- Handle special characters
- Try to scale it for reuse
Now compare that to Python ?
? The Python One-Liner Equivalent
python3 -c "import glob; [print(f'Processing {f}') or open('errors.log','a').write(open(f).read()) for f in glob.glob('*.txt') if 'ERROR' in open(f).read()]"
Yep. One line. Readable. Expandable. And debug-friendly.
Need something more powerful? You can just move it into a .py file. No need to rewrite the whole thing.
? Real-World Examples
? Replacing sed:
Bash:
sed -i 's/foo/bar/g' *.txt
Python:
python3 -c "import fileinput; [print(line.replace('foo','bar'), end='') for line in fileinput.input(inplace=1)]"
? Replacing awk:
Bash:
awk '{ sum += $1 } END { print sum }' numbers.txt
Python:
python3 -c "print(sum(map(int, open('numbers.txt'))))"
Python isn’t a silver bullet. Stick with Bash when:
- You need to glue CLI tools quickly
- You're in a restricted environment
- Simplicity outweighs readability
If you're writing anything more than 5 lines in Bash… try Python instead. It gives you:
- Better error messages
- Easier maintenance
- More libraries and structure
Bonus: You already know Python. Why not use it more effectively?
? Bash Devs Be Like:
sed 's/life/happiness/g' | awk '{print $0}' > /dev/null
print("happy ?")Meanwhile, I’m over here with:
?️ TL;DR
| Task | Bash | Python One-Liner |
|---|---|---|
| Replace text | sed | line.replace() |
| Sum numbers | awk | sum(map(int,...)) |
| File loop | for f in * | glob.glob() |
- ? Me debugging Bash scripts
- ?
Me writing Python one-liners - ? My old awk scripts
- ? When I discovered fileinput.input()
- ? When my cronjob actually ran successfully
Tag this under: #python #bash #devops #productivity #cli
Want more one-liner recipes? Drop a ? in the comments and I’ll do a Part 2.
? FREE GitHub Bundles to Build Faster, Smarter, and with Less Guesswork
- ?
- ?️
- ?️
? Want even more niche-specific bundles?
Browse the entire collection:
? 7,000 Hacker News GitHub LaunchesThe $9 Tech Goldmine to Build, Clone, or Launch a Million-Dollar ProductBuilt by others. Missed by you. Until now.Over the past 6 months, over 7,000 GitHub projects were posted, upvoted, and launched on Hacker News.Many of them became:
. Every single one.? What You GetA ZIP file containing:Unlock 7,000+ GitHub projects launched on Hacker News—AI tools, SaaS templates, open-source gems, and more.
What’s Inside:
- CSV Database: Direct links to 7,000+ GitHub repositories from the past 6 months.
- Instant Download: Get immediate access to a ZIP file containing the CSV.
- Diverse Categories: Includes AI, SaaS, developer tools, marketing tech, and more.
- Social Proof: All projects were upvoted or discussed on Hacker News.
Ideal for indie hackers, developers, freelancers, and marketers looking to discover and leverage trending projects.