AWK tutorial

Process structured text with concise pattern-action programs.

awk16 lessons

printf 'Ada 92\nSam 81\n' | awk '{ print $1, $2 }'

Designed forUnix users and data wranglers

Learning formatShort explanations, examples, practice connections

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COURSE CURRICULUM

16 lessons in a clear order

Finish one section at a time or jump directly to a concept you need.

Foundations

AWK programs, records, and fields

Learn how awk programs, records, and fields works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Patterns, actions, and command-line syntax

Learn how patterns, actions, and command-line syntax works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Core concepts

Variables, built-ins, and scope

Learn how variables, built-ins, and scope works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Strings, numbers, arrays, records, and fields

Learn how strings, numbers, arrays, records, and fields works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Operators, matching, and implicit conversion

Learn how operators, matching, and implicit conversion works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Control flow

Pattern ranges and conditional actions

Learn how pattern ranges and conditional actions works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Record loops and explicit iteration

Learn how record loops and explicit iteration works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Data and composition

Functions, arguments, and local variables

Learn how functions, arguments, and local variables works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Associative arrays and multidimensional indexes

Learn how associative arrays and multidimensional indexes works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Regular expressions and formatted output

Learn how regular expressions and formatted output works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Reliability and structure

Missing fields, numeric traps, and validation

Learn how missing fields, numeric traps, and validation works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Multiple files, includes, and reusable programs

Learn how multiple files, includes, and reusable programs works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Applied engineering

Records, keys, aggregation, and data models

Learn how records, keys, aggregation, and data models works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Files, pipes, coprocesses, and command boundaries

Learn how files, pipes, coprocesses, and command boundaries works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Testing AWK transformations with fixtures

Learn how testing awk transformations with fixtures works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.

Capstone

Capstone: a streaming AWK report

Learn how capstone: a streaming awk report works in AWK, why the underlying model matters, and how to apply it in a small program without hiding important trade-offs.