> something simple and small (<50 LOC). If it's complicated or large, you should just write it in a proper programming language anyway.
Regardless of LOC, eject from bash/awk as soon as you need a data structure, and choose a better language.
Regardless of LOC, eject from bash/awk as soon as you need a data structure, and choose a better language.
Some longish Bash scripts are very maintainable and reliable, because they're still quite regular and simple.