Guide to using python for bash-style scripting

[James Stroud]

4zumanga wrote:
> I have a bunch of really horrible hacked-up bash scripts which I would
> really like to convert to python, so I can extend and neaten them.
> However, I'm having some trouble mapping some constructs easily, and
> was wondering if anyone know of a guide to mapping simple uses of
> command line programs to python.
> 
> For an example, the kind of thing I am thinking of are things like
> (yes, this is horrible code).
> 
> # These are a run of a program I have written
> ./proggy -test1 > out1
> ./proggy -test2 > out2
> 
> #Do some simple manipulation of the output.
> grep Node out1 > new_out1
> grep Node out2 > new_out2
> diff out1 out2
> 

Chapter 2 of Mark Lutz's "Programming Python" (2nd Edition) will make 
you adept at using Python as a (***VASTLY SUPERIOR***) alternative to 
shell scripting. Chapters 3-5 will get you pretty close to master level 
at shell/system scripting.

Note: This is not an intro to python. You should already be able to do 
simple programming in python for Lutz's book to be useful.

James

-- 
James Stroud
UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics
Box 951570
Los Angeles, CA 90095

http://www.jamesstroud.com/