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Foreword to the Fourth Edition
******************************

Some things don't change.  Thirteen years ago I wrote: "If you use AWK
or want to learn how, then read this book."  True then, and still true
today.

   Learning to use a programming language is about more than mastering
the syntax.  One needs to acquire an understanding of how to use the
features of the language to solve practical programming problems.  A
focus of this book is many examples that show how to use AWK.

   Some things do change.  Our computers are much faster and have more
memory.  Consequently, speed and storage inefficiencies of a high-level
language matter less.  Prototyping in AWK and then rewriting in C for
performance reasons happens less, because more often the prototype is
fast enough.

   Of course, there are computing operations that are best done in C or
C++.  With 'gawk' 4.1 and later, you do not have to choose between
writing your program in AWK or in C/C++.  You can write most of your
program in AWK and the aspects that require C/C++ capabilities can be
written in C/C++, and then the pieces glued together when the 'gawk'
module loads the C/C++ module as a dynamic plug-in.  *note Dynamic
Extensions::, has all the details, and, as expected, many examples to
help you learn the ins and outs.

   I enjoy programming in AWK and had fun (re)reading this book.  I
think you will too.

     Michael Brennan
     Author of 'mawk'
     October 2014