Bash to Python

[pmasiar]

Well, duh. Of course the best thing to do is to port the result. The point is that I don't know how. I am well-versed in bash scripting, but I want to get a programming job. So, I plan to teach myself Python,

You are asking wrong question, no wonder that the answers do not make any sense.

From your question any reasonable reader (and I completely agree with Greyed) would assume you are after generic way to translate any bash script to Python. Which would be waste of time, because python is higher-level language with many cool concepts making programming in it more productive: your bash-code would very bad (and tricky-hard to debug as CptPicard mentioned) Python code.

Why? because you are working "against the grain". You are doing something you are not supposed to do. Python has rule "there should be one obvious way to do it right". Your's way is not obvious, and so wrong.

Asking right question is half the answer. And your question should be: how a person competent in bash can learn Python quickly? See?

If you understand basic programming concepts, you can learn basic procedural Python over a weekend, OOP will take you more but you don't need it to be productive - you can safely program for a year by just using existing objects (from library) and arrays of dictionaries for your own "objects".

See wiki in my sig for links, books and training tasks.

And you also should really adjust your attitude: if people's answers do not make sense to you, your question does not make sense to them, and it is **your** fault. Nobody owes you anything, volunteers spend own free time to help you. If I spend minutes to write answer for you, it is done in gratitude for people who helped me to learn what I know now, it is not related to you personally in any way. It is easier to ignore a jerk than trying to teach him how to behave.

Read "How to ask questions" in my sig, and apologize to Greyed.

Edit: I am **not** saying that Pro-reason is a jerk. He cannot be, with such nick and I am **not** ignoring him, but trying to answer his question. But I **do** think Pro-reason should readjust his attitude. Even if he is expert translator, learning different programming language is more about learning different paradigms than just mechanically translating syntax of one language into another.

[CptPicard]

Now, now... I don't think he is being a jerk, just misguided

[gomputor]

Read "How to ask questions" in my sig, and apologize to Greyed.

Hahahaaaaa.......!!!!

[Pro-reason]

OK, since you're determined to be unhelpful, I give up.

[CptPicard]

No, we're not unhelpful, we're just telling you you really are going about it the wrong way. We're professional programmers, no less..

And the really quick answer truly is that no, there is no such thing as an automatic bash to Python converter. It's probably even theoretically impossible, given the variety of tools you may be calling from your bash script. And trying to use such a hypothetical tool would be much more of an effort than actually learning Python.

[Pro-reason]

No, you are unhelpful. Being l33t programmers is a handicap here. It makes you pontificate about the purest purist way of doing things, instead of just answering the question.

[skillllllz]

Nothing ever got accomplished by giving up.

This book is free and WILL help you in your endeavor:

A Byte of Python (Online version)

Downloadable PDF


I wish you luck, even though you won't need it.

[CptPicard]

No, you are unhelpful.

No, we actually help you help yourself and stop wasting your time on a dead end solution.

Being l33t programmers is a handicap here.

What you are suggesting qualifies much better as a l33t solution -- "look!! I'm actually hacking Python to act as bash in between of subprocesses!!". We're being very pragmatic here.

It makes you pontificate about the purest purist way of doing things,

No, it is the realist way of doing things.

instead of just answering the question.

Your question has been answered.

[LaRoza]

No, you are unhelpful. Being l33t programmers is a handicap here. It makes you pontificate about the purest purist way of doing things, instead of just answering the question.

The question is hard to answer.

If it is just bash, not calling other programs, it would be very simple to automate a translation.

However, bash scripts call other programs all the time. Bash scripts are more like glue between other programs.

One could, I suppose, have something that can automatically translate bash into Python, but the shear number of programs that Bash scripts routinely call, it would be quite hard.

[snova]

However much I agree that conversion is the wrong way to go about learning Python, I do think it could be done. It would mean using subprocess a lot, and writing Python equivalents to Bash builtins, but besides that I think the biggest challenge would be the parser.

I am by no means a theorist, but practically, I think it could be done.