Problem Statement
What is awk primarily used for?
Explanation
Awk is a powerful programming language designed for text processing and data extraction. It treats files as collections of records (lines) divided into fields (columns), making it excellent for processing structured text like CSV files, log files, or command output. Awk processes each line, splits it into fields, and executes specified actions.
Basic awk syntax: awk '{print $1}' filename prints the first field of each line. Fields are separated by whitespace by default, but you can specify custom delimiters with -F option: awk -F':' '{print $1}' /etc/passwd prints usernames. $0 represents the entire line, $1 is the first field, $2 the second, and so on.
Awk supports conditionals, loops, variables, and functions, making it a complete programming language. Common uses include calculating column totals, filtering data based on conditions, reformatting output, and generating reports. Example: awk '$3 > 100' file.txt prints lines where the third field is greater than 100. Understanding awk is valuable for data processing and log analysis in DevOps.
