What are the disadvantages of using an interactive shell based on a regular programming language (python, scheme's scsh, etc) vs. bourne shell and bash?

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  • zx

    A tool for writing better scripts

    There are many alternative shells out there. The popular ones seem to maintain a degree of compatibility with bourne shell and bash, namely dash and zsh. Some deviate even more, like fish. But then I've learned that it is possible to use shells based on regular programming languages. I've seen people using python instead of bash, which initially I thought was weird, but then wondered "why not?". I've also heard about scheme's scsh, and potentially JavaScript's zx. Never tried them, so maybe they're bad examples.

  • shh

    Simple shell like scripting from Haskell

    There exist hybrids, where general purpose languages are somehow coerced into shells by adding syntactic sugar or removing features. Xonsh and shh come to mind, respectively for Python and Haskell.

  • WorkOS

    The modern identity platform for B2B SaaS. The APIs are flexible and easy-to-use, supporting authentication, user identity, and complex enterprise features like SSO and SCIM provisioning.

  • xonsh

    :shell: Python-powered, cross-platform, Unix-gazing shell.

    There exist hybrids, where general purpose languages are somehow coerced into shells by adding syntactic sugar or removing features. Xonsh and shh come to mind, respectively for Python and Haskell.

  • oil

    Oils is our upgrade path from bash to a better language and runtime. It's also for Python and JavaScript users who avoid shell!

    There also exist modern shells that look more like general purpose languages, such as nushell and oil.

  • nushell

    A new type of shell

    There also exist modern shells that look more like general purpose languages, such as nushell and oil.

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