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Other Freely Available @command{awk} Implementations

It's kind of fun to put comments like this in your awk code.
      // Do C++ comments work? answer: yes! of course
Michael Brennan

There are three other freely available @command{awk} implementations. This minor node briefly describes where to get them:

Unix @command{awk}

Brian Kernighan has made his implementation of @command{awk} freely available. You can retrieve this version via the World Wide Web from his home page.(64) It is available in several archive formats:

Shell archive

http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/bwk/awk.shar

Compressed @command{tar file}

http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/bwk/awk.tar.gz

Zip file

http://cm.bell-labs.com/who/bwk/awk.zip

This version requires an ISO C (1990 standard) compiler; the C compiler from GCC (the GNU Compiler Collection) works quite nicely. @xref{BTL, ,Extensions in the Bell Laboratories @command{awk}}, for a list of extensions in this @command{awk} that are not in POSIX @command{awk}.

@command{mawk}

Michael Brennan has written an independent implementation of @command{awk}, called @command{mawk}. It is available under the GPL (see section GNU General Public License), just as @command{gawk} is. You can get it via anonymous @command{ftp} to the host ftp.whidbey.net. Change directory to `/pub/brennan'. Use "binary" or "image" mode, and retrieve `mawk1.3.3.tar.gz' (or the latest version that is there). @command{gunzip} may be used to decompress this file. Installation is similar to @command{gawk}'s (@pxref{Unix Installation, , Compiling and Installing @command{gawk} on Unix}). @command{mawk} has the following extensions that are not in POSIX @command{awk}:

• The fflush built-in function for flushing buffered output (see section Input/Output Functions).
• The `**' and `**=' operators (see section Arithmetic Operators and also see section Assignment Expressions).
• The use of func as an abbreviation for function (see section Function Definition Syntax).
• The `\x' escape sequence (see section Escape Sequences).
• The `/dev/stdout', and `/dev/stderr' special files (@pxref{Special Files, ,Special File Names in @command{gawk}}). Use "-" instead of "/dev/stdin" with @command{mawk}.
• The ability for FS and for the third argument to split to be null strings (see section Making Each Character a Separate Field).
• The ability to delete all of an array at once with `delete array' (see section The delete Statement).
• The ability for RS to be a regexp (see section How Input Is Split into Records).
• The BINMODE special variable for non-Unix operating systems (@pxref{PC Using, ,Using @command{gawk} on PC Operating Systems}).

The next version of @command{mawk} will support nextfile.

@command{awka}

Written by Andrew Sumner, @command{awka} translates @command{awk} programs into C, compiles them, and links them with a library of functions that provides the core @command{awk} functionality. It also has a number of extensions. The @command{awk} translator is released under the GPL, and the library is under the LGPL. To get @command{awka}, go to http://awka.sourceforge.net. You can reach Andrew Sumner at andrew_sumner@bigfoot.com.

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