Both programming languages have strengths and weaknesses, and they win and lose at certain tasks.

Bash and Python are the favorite programming languages of most automation engineers. They all have their pros and cons, and sometimes it’s hard to choose which one to use. So, the honest answer is: it depends on the task, scope, context, and complexity of the task.

Let’s compare the two languages to better understand their respective strengths.

Bash

  • Is a Linux/Unix shell command language
  • Great for writing shell scripts that use command line interface (CLI) utilities, use the output of one command to pass to another (pipes), and perform simple tasks (up to 100 lines of code)
  • Command line commands and utilities can be used as-is
  • Startup time is faster than Python, but execution performance is poor
  • It is not installed on Windows by default. Your script may not be compatible with multiple operating systems, but Bash is the default shell for most Linux/Unix systems
  • With other shells (CSH, ZSH, fish)Don’tFully compatible.
  • Through pipes (|) pass CLI utilities such assed,awk,grepCan degrade its performance
  • It lacks many functions, objects, data structures, and multithreading support, which limits its use in complex scripts or programming
  • Lack of good debugging tools and utilities

Python

  • It is an object-facing programming language (OOP) and therefore more versatile than Bash
  • Can be used for almost any task
  • Works on most operating systems and is installed on most Unix/Linux systems by default
  • Very similar to pseudocode
  • Has simple, clear, easy to learn and read grammar
  • It has a large library, documentation, and an active community
  • Provides friendlier error handling features than Bash
  • There are better debugging tools and utilities than Bash, which makes it a great language for developing complex software applications that involve many lines of code
  • An application (or script) may contain many third-party dependencies that must be installed before execution
  • For simple tasks, you need to write more code than Bash

I hope these lists will give you a better idea of which language to use and when to use it.

Which language do you use more in your daily work, Bash or Python? Please share in the comments.

Via: opensource.com/article/19/…

Archit Modi (Red Hat

This article is originally compiled by LCTT and released in Linux China