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Diffstat (limited to 'doc/gawk.texi')
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diff --git a/doc/gawk.texi b/doc/gawk.texi index 20087fa7..1453b145 100644 --- a/doc/gawk.texi +++ b/doc/gawk.texi @@ -433,8 +433,9 @@ particular records in a file and perform operations upon them. @end ifnottex @menu -* Foreword:: Some nice words about this +* Foreword3:: Some nice words about this @value{DOCUMENT}. +* Foreword4:: More nice words. * Preface:: What this @value{DOCUMENT} is about; brief history and acknowledgments. * Getting Started:: A basic introduction to using @@ -1062,8 +1063,8 @@ for enrichening our lives in innumerable ways. @summarycontents @contents -@node Foreword -@unnumbered Foreword +@node Foreword3 +@unnumbered Foreword to the Third Edition @c This bit is post-processed by a script which turns the chapter @c tag into a preface tag, and moves this stuff to before the title. @@ -1213,6 +1214,58 @@ March, 2001 @end display @end ifnotdocbook +@node Foreword4 +@unnumbered Foreword to the Fourth Edition + +@c This bit is post-processed by a script which turns the chapter +@c tag into a preface tag, and moves this stuff to before the title. +@c Bleah. +@docbook + <prefaceinfo> + <author> + <firstname>Michael</firstname> + <surname>Brennan</surname> + <!-- can't put mawk into command tags. sigh. --> + <affiliation><jobtitle>Author of mawk</jobtitle></affiliation> + </author> + <date>March, 2001</date> + </prefaceinfo> +@end docbook + +Some things don't change. Thirteen years ago I wrote: +``If you use AWK or want to learn how, then read this book.'' +True then and still true today. + +Learning to use a programming language is more than mastering the +syntax. One needs to acquire an understanding of how to use the +features of the language to solve practical programming problems. +A focus of this book is many examples that show how to use AWK. + +Some things do change. Our computers are much faster and have more memory. +Consequently, speed and storage inefficiencies of a high level language +matter less. Prototyping in AWK and then rewriting in C for performance +reasons happens less, because more often the prototype is fast enough. + +Of course, there are computing operations that are best done in C or C++. +With @command{gawk} 4.1 and later, you do not have to choose between writing +your program in AWK or in C/C++. You can write most of your +program in AWK and the aspects that require C/C++ capabilities can be written +in C/C++ and then the pieces glued together when the @command{gawk} module loads +the C/C++ module as a dynamic plug-in. +@c Chapter 16 +@ref{Dynamic Extensions}, +has all the +details, and as expected, many examples to help you learn the ins and outs. + +@ifnotdocbook +@cindex Brennan, Michael +@display +Michael Brennan +Author of @command{mawk} +October, 2014 +@end display +@end ifnotdocbook + @node Preface @unnumbered Preface @c I saw a comment somewhere that the preface should describe the book itself, |