@BillKopp, I believe you’re mistaken. I don’t think I make statements about ASObjC in general. They were all for this limited use case: Creating Symlinks.
In fact, my first statement is pro-ASObjC:
In fact, my whole point is to identify the advantages, if any, of using ASObjC for this use case. Like selecting the right tool for the job, each job is different.
Agree. But for this use case, the shell script is simple, compact, and easy to understand.
I’m not a big fan of creating one-liners just for the sake of having the code in one line.
In fact, I don’t normally write code that way, and I don’t think there is any material advantage to doing so, given the high power of todays processors, and the capability of most compilers. I’m sure there are some exceptions, but I believe they are very few and far between.
The fact that the shell script takes only one line is a testimony to the simplicity of the code, and the power of the script commands – NOT to the ability of the programmer to make compact code.
I am much more interested in the readability, maintainability, and ease of testing code (seeing intermediate results) than I am in writing super-compact code.
So, let me reinforce my main point, my main objective in making this topic: To learn when to select ASObjC, and when to select a shell script, for a particular job. I was NOT trying to make any generalizations about either.