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merlyn
I believe Perl <i>predates</i> nawk. In fact, I've claimed at least once or twice that I'm glad nawk (and gawk) were <i>not</i> readily available in 1987, or there might have been less pressure on Larry to write Perl in the first place.
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From what I understand (although [id://57426] will correct me if I mess up here, perhaps), the problem Larry was trying to solve with awk involved stopping processing in one file to temporarily consult a second file (bug reports that refer to other bug reports). And that's what awk doesn't do, although I understand later awk versions handle fine. So, Larry was "forced" to write Perl, and create an entire industry and subculture as a result.
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<p>-- [http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/|Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker]
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Be sure to read [id://205373|my standard disclaimer] if this is a reply.</p>
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