Shell in Python¶
![[Pasted image 20240807075117.png]]
Existing Python libraries¶
- GitHub - tomerfiliba/plumbum: Plumbum: Shell Combinators
- https://github.com/amoffat/sh
- GitHub - aeroxis/sultan: Sultan: Command and Rule over your Shell
- Seashore “Seashore – A collection of shell abstractions” (not actively developped)
- Shelmet: promising but no background tasks [[Shelmet]]
- https://domonic.readthedocs.io/packages/terminal.html
- https://pypi.org/project/shellby/
- https://github.com/KonishchevDmitry/psh = Process management library
- https://github.com/Ovsyanka83/pysh/ = A library of small functions that simplify scripting in python
- https://hitchdev.com/commandlib/ = a library for calling external UNIX commands (e.g. in build scripts) in a clean, readable way.
Python-based shells¶
- https://github.com/geophile/marcel “Marcel is a shell. The main idea is to rely on piping as the primary means of composition, as with any Unix or Linux shell. However, instead of passing strings from one command to the next, marcel passes Python values: builtin types such as lists, tuples, strings, and numbers; but also objects representing files and processes.”
- https://xon.sh/ “Xonsh is a Python-powered, cross-platform, Unix-gazing shell language and command prompt. The language is a superset of Python 3.6+ with additional shell primitives that you are used to from Bash and IPython. It works on all major systems including Linux, OSX, and Windows. Xonsh is meant for the daily use of experts and novices.”
Docs / blogs posts¶
- https://martinheinz.dev/blog/98 “The Right Way to Run Shell Commands From Python”
Shell -> Python converter / compiler¶
See also:
- https://github.com/vorpaljs/bash-parser “Parses bash into an AST” (JavaScript)
- “Morbig: A Static Parser for POSIX Shell” research paper - Look for it in https://niols.fr/publications.html
- https://www.oilshell.org/blog/2019/02/07.html “How to Parse Shell Like a Programming Language” blog post
- https://www.oilshell.org/blog/2021/01/comments-parsing.html
- http://shell.cs.pomona.edu/ “Smoosh - The Symbolic, Mechanized, Observable, Operational Shell”
Type-safe shell scripting¶
- Type-safeness in Shell
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/221055373_Declarative_Scripting_in_Haskell
- https://www.oilshell.org/cross-ref.html
- https://www.oilshell.org/blog/2020/01/simplest-explanation.html
Misc¶
- https://github.com/sustrik/uxy “UXY: Adding structure to the UNIX tools”
- https://hush-shell.github.io/foreword.html - “This is the official guide of Hush, a modern shell scripting language.”
References¶
- https://martinheinz.dev/blog/98 “The Right Way to Run Shell Commands From Python”
Misc ideas for a new API¶
Goals:
- Ease / naturalness of use
- Type safety
Shell object: shell = Shell()
Run something: result = shell.ls()
With options: result = shell.ls(l=True) (== ls -l).
Errors recovery:
try:
result = shell.ls()
except ShellException as e:
print(e.status)
Strong typing: generate .pyi files for common commands ? By parsing man pages ?
Piping: shell.ls().pipe.grep('*.py') ? bof.
shell.pipe(shell.ls(), shell.grep('*.py') ? (Needs to parse AST inside the pipe argument).
#bash #shell #posix
Page last modified: 2024-11-25 10:40:39