Is Bash fast?

Bash is the default user shell on every Linux distribution you know about as well as macOS, which makes it relatively faster than Python in terms of performance. It is also available for virtually all other UNIX operating systems, including BSD Unix and Solaris. Bash is a software replacement for the original Bourne shell (sh).

Bash is a UNIX shell and command language interpreter and a possible software replacement for the original Bourne shell (sh). The Bash shell provides command-line tools for editing and influencing users’ command history. Bash is everywhere. It may not be the newest and probably not the most influential, nor is it the only shell distributed as open-source software – but it is universal. Bash is also becoming more and more popular. In addition to compatibility with the Bourne shell, it includes the best of the C and Korn shells, as well as several features of its own. Bash is the default user shell on every Linux distribution you know and on macOS.

Bash is not a programming language but a shell designed to quickly insert commands and execute them. Therefore, you run other commands that do your job (for example, mvmove files and directories). No Bash variables are limited, and since the commands are all strings, there’s no reason to be too strict. (Although it is possible to force types, see). help declare.

While it is true that Bash can be faster than Python for some selected tasks, it can never be as fast to develop or as easy to maintain. Bash’s only strong point with respect to Python or Ruby ​​or Lua, etc., is its ubiquity. 

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Why is Bash slow?

Bash is definitely a great tool to facilitate your work and improve your projects. Bash functions can eliminate repetitive tasks, save time, and provide a well-structured, modular, and formatted sequence of activities. With scripts, we can provide dynamic values ​​to commands using command line arguments, can simplify complex commands in a single running unit. Once created, it can be run any number of times by anyone. Logical flows can be built using Bash functions. Bash functions can be run at server startup or by adding a scheduled cron job. Commands can be debugged. And can have interactive shell commands. Bash is not a programming language but a shell designed to quickly insert commands and execute them. Therefore, you run other commands that do your job. No Bash variables are limited, and since the commands are all strings, there’s no reason to be too strict. 

Bash is quite portable. It presently runs on nearly every version of Unix and a few other operating systems – independently sustained ports exist for MS-DOS, OS/2, and Windows platforms. 

Bash is slow. The reason for the slowness of Bash is that the program is required to make a system call for each byte. It is unable to read a large buffer from the pipe because the shell program must not read multiple lines from the input stream, so each character must be compared with a newline character.

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Should I learn Bash or Python?

Both programming languages have advantages and disadvantages that make them better for some tasks than others. And, sometimes it can be hard to choose which one you should learn. The honest answer is: It depends on the type of task you are going to perform, the scope, the content, and the complexity of the task.

Bash is a great tool to facilitate your work and improve your projects. Bash functions can eliminate repetitive tasks, save time, and provide a well-structured, modular, and formatted sequence of activities. With scripts, we can provide dynamic values ​​to commands using command line arguments, can simplify complex commands in a single running unit. Once created, it can be run any number of times by anyone. Logical flows can be built by the use of Bash functions. Bash functions can be run at server startup or by adding a scheduled cron job. Commands can be debugged. And can have interactive shell commands. 

Whereas Python is an object-oriented programming (OOP) language, so it’s more general-purpose than Bash. It is useful for almost any task. It works on most major operating systems and is also installed by default on most Unix/Linus systems. It is very similar to writing pseudocode. It has simple, clear, easy-to-learn, easy-to-read syntax. It has lots of libraries, documentation, and an active community. It provides better error handling features than Bash. It has better debugging tools and utilities as compare to Bash, which makes it a great language for developing complex software applications involving many lines of code. It requires writing more lines of code for simple tasks than Bash does.

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Python and Bash in the same script

We can introduce shell scripts within the scripts of Python. Take this, for example: – Type in ‘apt-get update’ in the python shell? You will get some errors like invalid syntax. So, the thing is, if you want to use the Bash codes like ‘ls, cd, mv’ or anything else in Python, you will have to import the OS module. Now, copy the code given below and paste it into the Shell of Python, and check how it works:-

$ python>>>from os import *>>> system ( ‘sudo apt-get update )

And now it works. This is an additional way as to how to get Python and Bash scripts working together. Besides, there is another Python module that is specifically built to work with Bash. This module is known as pexpect. Pexpect is a Python module that is used for producing child processes, controlling them, and returning results as per the child process’s request. The pexpect module has a very easy interface to import required modules and child processes inside of it and execute them accordingly. One just requires the pip installed in their system to install expect, and one can install the module as follows;

$ pip install pexpect

The version of Pexpect requires a Python version superior to 3.3 or especially 2.7. There is much more to mixing up Python and Bash, and nothing works as better as a mixture of the script of Python and Bash. This mixture makes the script fast because of Bash and inclusive of advanced features because of Python.

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Difference between Bash and Python

Python and Bash are two different tools used for different applications. If you are a system administrator, you will likely find Perl, Bash, or another scripting language. Scripting languages ​​are computer programming languages ​​often used to accomplish repetitive and tedious tasks at a pace and with an accuracy that far surpasses what you could do without them. They are easier to learn and faster to code than other structured languages ​​like C and C++. They are a way to get tasks done faster. Python is a valuable tool, specifically because it lets you do your job efficiently. 

Python is an easy-to-learn and highly efficient programming language used for general-purpose programming and is known for its consistency; Start working with Python for a while, and you’ll be able to understand features that are new to you. And it’s open-source, which means anyone can view and modify the source code, and it works seamlessly on every viable operating system. 

On the other hand, Bash is a UNIX shell and command language interpreter and a possible software replacement for the original Bourne shell (sh). The Bash shell offers command-line tools for editing and manipulating users’ command history. Bash is everywhere. It may not be the newest and probably not the most influential, nor is it the only shell distributed as open-source software – but it is ubiquitous. Bash is also becoming more and more popular. In addition to compatibility with the Bourne shell, it includes the best of the C and Korn shells, as well as several features of its own. Bash is the default user shell on every Linux distribution you know and on macOS, which makes it relatively faster than Python in terms of performance.

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Bash vs. Python subprocess

A sub-process in Python is a task that a Python script delegates to the operating system (OS). The sub-process library allows us to run and manage sub-processes directly from Python. This involves working with standard input, standard stdin output, stdout, and return codes. We don’t have to install it with PIP, as it is part of the standard Python library. The main idea behind the subprocess library is to be able to interact with the operating system by executing whatever commands we want directly from the Python interpreter. This means that we can do whatever we want, as long as our operating system allows us (and as long as you don’t delete your root filesystem).

Whereas, in Bash, a sub-process is formed by the parent shell by making the system calls fork followed by exec. A sub-process executes individualistically of the parent process. Each command that is not an in-built command is just a script that is executed as a child process by the parent shell. A child-process acquires a copy of all of the environment variables of the parent shell. Environment variables are the variables declared with the export keyword. It is also likely to source a script into the parent shell. A sourced script is executed within the parent shell. No sub-process is created for it.

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Bash scripting vs. shell scripting

What is sh?

A shell is basically a macro processor that executes commands. The term macro processor means functionality where text and symbols are extended in order to create larger expressions.

A Unix shell is a command interpreter along with a programming language. As a command interpreter, the shell offers the user interface to the rich set of GNU utilities. The programming language features let these utilities be combined. Files containing commands can be formed and become commands themselves. These new commands have the same standing as system commands in directories such as /bin, letting users or groups create custom environments to automate their common tasks.

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What is Bash?

Bash is the shell or command language interpreter for the GNU operating system. The name stands for the ‘Bourne-Again Shell’, a pun on Stephen Bourne, the writer of the direct ancestor of the current Unix shell sh. Bash is chiefly compatible with sh and integrates beneficial features from the Korn shell ksh and the C shell csh. It is planned to be a conformant implementation of the IEEE POSIX Shell and Tools portion of the IEEE POSIX specification (IEEE Standard 1003.1). It offers functional improvements over sh both for interactive and programming use.

While the GNU operating system provides other shells containing a version of csh, Bash is quite convenient. It presently runs on nearly every version of Unix and a few other operating systems – individualistically supported ports exist for MS-DOS, OS/2, and Windows platforms. 

Bash and sh are two different shells. Bash is sh, with more features and better syntax. Most commands work the same, but they are different. Bash is one of many available (yet the most commonly used) Unix shells. Bash stands for “Bourne Again Shell” and is a replacement/improvement of the original Bourne shell (sh). Shell scripting is scripting in any shell, whereas Bash scripting is scripting specifically for Bash. In practice, however, “shell script” and “bash script” are frequently used interchangeably if the shell in question is not Bash.

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What is the difference between Python and shell scripting?

Shell is software that “provides a user interface.” It is a program written in C language. It belongs to a command language and a programming language. A shell script is a script program written by the shell. Generally speaking, shell refers to shell script. And Python is a computer programming language like Java, C, and PHP, but it is an interpreted, object-oriented language. Python is a general-purpose scripting language, powerful, cross-platform (for example, Windows and Linux), and rigorous.

Python can call graphics libraries, can directly make network applications, or even directly embed other languages cross-platform. If you write a shell script with more than 100 lines, you should consider rewriting it in Python. If you have complex objects, please use Python.

Shell is a script for system management with limited capabilities. Most of it is used for automated tasks, not a system-level programming language. Python is a system-level programming language with a wide range of uses. Shell function is low efficiency; Python is efficient and powerful. If it is a complex object, you need to write more than N lines of code with the shell; it is better to use Python.

Shell is simple, used for rapid development, and it focuses on the field of system (such as Linux) management. The shell is closely integrated with the system. In terms of internal data processing, it focuses on text (or string or character stream) processing, while the originality of operations 

And other basic data structures are weak. The shell should not be used in the following situations because the shell cannot do anything about it; such as: cross-platform, more complex mathematical operations (such as floating-point operations, precise operations, etc.), graphical interface GUI, I/O or socket interface, multi-dimensional array, high requirements for efficiency, etc. 

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Conclusion

Python is an object-oriented programming (OOP) language, so it’s more general-purpose than Bash. It can be used for almost any task. It works on most major operating systems and is also installed by default on most Unix/Linus systems. It is very similar to writing pseudocode. It has simple, clear, easy-to-learn, easy-to-read syntax. It has lots of libraries, documentation, and an active community. It provides better error handling features than Bash. It has better debugging tools and utilities than Bash, which makes it a great language for developing complex software applications involving many lines of code. It requires writing more lines of code for simple tasks than Bash does.

On the other hand, Bash is a UNIX shell and command language interpreter and a possible software replacement for the original Bourne shell (sh). The Bash shell deals with command-line tools for editing and manipulating users’ command history. Bash is universal. It may not be the newest and probably not the most prevailing, nor is it the only shell distributed as open-source software – but it is ubiquitous. Bash is also becoming more and more common. In addition to compatibility with the Bourne shell, it includes the best of the C and Korn shells, as well as numerous features of its own. 

Bash can be faster than Python for some selected tasks; it can never be as fast to develop or as easy to maintain. Bash’s only strong point with respect to Python or Ruby ​​or Lua, etc., is its ubiquity. 

Both programming languages have some advantages and disadvantages that make them better for some tasks than others. Both have pros and cons, and sometimes it can be hard to choose which one you should learn. The honest answer is: It depends on the type of task you are going to perform, the scope, the content, and the complexity of the task.

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References

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/difference-between-python-and-bash

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Python_(programming_language)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bash_(Unix_shell)

https://geekflare.com/python-run-bash/

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