← Back to context

Comment by sysguest

8 hours ago

yeah but... that convention is so much of a security/bug headache

sometimes, its footguns seem worse than javascript...

hope some typescript-like "typed shell" becomes mainstream someday

6 comments

sysguest

Reply
coldpie  8 hours ago

> hope some typescript-like "typed shell" becomes mainstream someday

The trouble with trying to invent a new, more robust shell language is you basically just end up re-inventing any number of scripting languages (eg Perl, Python, awk, ...), so you might as well use one of those.

  • hnlmorg  7 hours ago

    Most regular programming languages aren’t well suited for shells because they have a verbose syntax due to their readability goals. But with a shell, the vast majority of times you’re typing in stuff that you have no intention of reading back ever again.

    I’ve done a fair amount of research here and I actually think we do need a new programming language for the shell (and then I created one).

    I wrote a blog about this problem: https://murex.rocks/blog/split_personalities.html#conclusion

    • coldpie  7 hours ago

      Excellent article, thanks for the link. I do agree with the premise. But every time I write some Bash code and think there should be a better way to do this, I ask myself why I don't just learn Perl. I dunno. Feels like inventing another solution would just hit the old "there are now 14 standards" problem where it would solve some problems but introduce others (see: PowerShell).

      1 reply →