line breaks.

content/posts/clirenaissance/index.md

@@ -124,51 +124,45 @@ Ive noticed that people are rethinking and reinventing tools that have existed s
 
 ## The lessons learned from the past
 
-A large amount of the innovation in the area, I think, can be attributed to
+A large amount of the innovation in the area, I think, can be attributed to lessons that have been learned in 50 years of using software;
-lessons that have been learned in 50 years of using software; sharp edges we
+sharp edges we have repeatedly cut ourselves on,
-have repeatedly cut ourselves on, unintuitive interfaces that repeatedly trip us
+unintuitive interfaces that repeatedly trip us up,
-up, and growing frustration at the limitations that maintaining decades of
+and growing frustration at the limitations that maintaining decades of backwards compatibility imposes on our tools.
-backwards compatibility imposes on our tools.
 
-These lessons have been gathering in the collective conciousness, through
+These lessons have been gathering in the collective conciousness;
-cheatsheets, guides, and FAQs; resources to guide us through esoteric error
+through cheatsheets, guides, and FAQs;
-messages, complex configurations, and dozens upon dozens of flags.
+resources to guide us through esoteric error messages, complex configurations, and dozens upon dozens of flags.
 
-Id like to go over a couple of the more prominent lessons that I feel terminal
+Id like to go over a couple of the more prominent lessons that I feel terminal tools have learned in the past several decades.
-tools have learned in the past several decades.
 
 ### A good out of the box experience
 
-While configurability is great, one should not need to learn a new configuration
+While configurability is great,
-language and dozens or hundreds of options to get a usable piece of software.
+one should not need to learn a new configuration language and dozens or hundreds of options to get a usable piece of software.
 Configuration should be for customization, not setup.
 
 One of the earliest examples of this principle may be the fish shell.
-Both zsh and fish have powerful prompt and autocompletion engines, but zsh
+Both zsh and fish have powerful prompt and autocompletion engines,
-requires you to setup a custom prompt and enable completions in order to use the
+but zsh requires you to setup a custom prompt and enable completions in order to use the features that set it apart from the competition.
-features that set it apart from the competition. With no config file, zsh is no
+With no config file, zsh is no better than bash.
-better than bash. When starting fish for the first time, however, its powerful
+When starting fish for the first time however,
-autocompletion and information rich prompt are front and center with no
+its powerful autocompletion and information rich prompt are front and center with no configuration required.
-configuration required. Of course, fish still has the same level of
+Of course, fish still has the same level of configurability as zsh, it just also has sensible defaults.
-configurability as zsh, it just also has sensible defaults.
 
-To demonstrate my point, this is the default prompt for zsh with no
+To demonstrate my point, this is the default prompt for zsh with no configuration.
-configuration. It *only* shows the hostname, none of the advanced featurs you
+It *only* shows the hostname, none of the advanced featurs you can get out of a zsh prompt even without plugins.
-can get out of a zsh prompt even without plugins.
 ![zsh prompt, only shows hostname](zsh_prompt.png)
-Here is bash's prompt. It actually gives more info than zsh's, even though zsh
+Here is bash's prompt.
-can do more when properly configured.
+It actually gives more info than zsh's, even though zsh can do more when properly configured.
 ![bash prompt, shows hostname and current directory](bash_prompt.png)
-And here is fish's default prompt. It has a few colours, shows everything the
+And here is fish's default prompt.
-bash prompt does, and additionally shows the git branch we are on.
+It has a few colours, shows everything the bash prompt does, and additionally shows the git branch we are on.
-![fish prompt, has colours, shows hostname, current directory, and git
+![fish prompt, has colours, shows hostname, current directory, and git info](fish_prompt.png)
-info](fish_prompt.png)
 
-Text editors are another great example of the evolution of out of the box
+Text editors are another great example of the evolution of out of the box defaults.
-defaults. Vim and Neovim both improved on their predecessors, but so much of
+Vim and Neovim both improved on their predecessors,
-that improvement is locked behind extremely complex configuration experiences
+but much of that improvement is locked behind extremely complex configuration experiences and plugins.
-and plugins. Heres four different terminal text editors with no configuration
+Heres four different terminal text editors with no configuration applied:
-applied:
 
 ![vi, vim, neovim, and helix editors in their default
 configuration](editors.png)
@@ -177,33 +171,26 @@ Vi, (top left) is our baseline, and, as far as I can tell, doesnt actually
 support much for configuration. What you see out of the box is more or less
 whats there.
 
-Vim (top right) greatly improved on Vi, adding things such as syntax highlighting, line
+Vim (top right) greatly improved on Vi, adding things such as syntax highlighting, line numbers, spellchecking, split windows, folding, and even basic autocompletion.
-numbers, spellchecking, split windows, folding, and even basic autocompletion.
+However, everything but syntax highligting is either extremely clunky or outright disabled without configuration.
-However, everything but syntax highligting is either extremely clunky or
+(for example, the earliest things I did when I first made a `.vimrc` was to enable indent folding,
-outright disabled without configuration. (for example, the earliest things I did
+make some better keybinds for navigating windows, and adding a line number ruler to the side)
-when I first made a `.vimrc` was to enable indent folding, make some better
-keybinds for navigating windows, and adding a line number ruler to the side)
 
-Neovim (bottom left) further improved on Vim, adding support for Treesitter and
+Neovim (bottom left) further improved on Vim, adding support for Treesitter and the Language Server Protocoll, but the out of the box experience is the *exact* same as vim!
-the Language Server Protocoll, but the out of the box experience is the *exact*
+In order to take advantage of the LSP and Treesitter support, you have to install plugins,
-same as vim! In order to take advantage of the LSP and Treesitter support, you
+which means learning a Nvim package manager, learning how to configure LSPs, and configuring a new LSP for every language you want to use it with.
-have to install plugins, which means learning a Nvim package manager, learning
+(Or finding out about Mason and being OK with having multiple levels of package management in your Nvim install alone).
-how to configure LSPs, and configuring a new LSP for every language you want to
+Dont get me wrong, Neovim is a great editor once you get over the hump, I still use it as my daily driver, but so much of its functionality is simply hidden.
-use it with. (Or finding out about Mason and being OK with having multiple
-levels of package management in your Nvim install alone). Dont get me wrong,
-Neovim is a great editor once you get over the hump, I still use it as my daily
-driver, but so much of its functionality is simply hidden.
 
-Then we have the Helix (bottom right) editor. Colour scheme aside, everything is
+Then we have the Helix (bottom right) editor. Colour scheme aside, everything is just there.
-just there. Helix doesnt have plugin support
+Helix doesnt have plugin support [yet](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/discussions/3806),
-[yet](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/discussions/3806), but it has so
+but it has so much stuff in core that,
-much stuff in core that, looking through my neovim plugins, pretty much all of
+looking through my neovim plugins,
-them are in the core editor! (ironically, the one feature that I feel helix is
+pretty much all of them are in the core editor!
-missing, [folding](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/1840), is a core
+(ironically, the one feature that I feel helix is missing, [folding](https://github.com/helix-editor/helix/issues/1840),
-part of neovim, albiet one that requires some configuration to get good use out
+is a core part of neovim, albiet one that requires some configuration to get good use out of).
-of). Helix does have a config file where you can change a huge amount of
+Helix does have a config file where you can change a huge amount of settings,
-settings, but its an extremely usable IDE out of the box, thanks to having all
+but its an extremely usable IDE out of the box, thanks to having all of its features enabled by default.
-of its features enabled by default.
 
 ### Friendly error messages
 

content/posts/nushell.md

@@ -54,8 +54,7 @@ You can sort, filter, and aggregate the data,
 use a SQL style join statement between two tables,
 and use functional programming patterns to manipulate tables.
 
-Some examples of things that nushell enables with this structured data passing
+Some examples of things that nushell enables with this structured data passing through pipelines includes:
-through pipelines includes:
 
 {{<highlight sh>}}
 # show all files recursively that were modified in the last week
@@ -123,26 +122,23 @@ update bytes_sent {into int}
 {{</highlight>}}
 (each line has a comment explaining what it does, for those unfamiliar with the nushell language)
 
-Now that we have it in nushell tables, we can bring all of nushells tools to
+Now that we have it in nushell tables, we can bring all of nushells tools to bear on the data.
-bear on the data. For example, we could plot a histogram of the most common
+For example, we could plot a histogram of the most common ips, just by piping the whole thing into `histogram ip`.
-ips, just by piping the whole thing into `histogram ip`. We could easily
+We could easily calculate the average bytes sent per request.
-calculate the average bytes sent per request. We could group the records by the
+We could group the records by the day or hour they happened, and analyze each of those groups independently.
-day or hour they happened, and analyze each of those groups independently. And
+And we can do all of that after arbitrarily filtering, sorting, or otherwise transforming the table.
-we can do all of that after arbitrarily filtering, sorting, or otherwise
-transforming the table.
 
-While it would be a pretty long one liner if we decided to put it in a single
+While it would be a pretty long one liner if we decided to put it in a single line,
-line, its still quite easy and straightforward to write.
+its still quite easy and straightforward to write.
 Most log formats and command outputs are similarly straightforward.
 
 ## Defining custom commands, with built-in arg parsing
 
-Nushell has a feature called Custom Commands, which fill the same purpose as
+Nushell has a feature called Custom Commands,
-functions in other shells/programming languages, but are a bit more featurefull
+which fill the same purpose as functions in other shells/programming languages,
-than traditional POSIX shell functions.
+but are a bit more featurefull than traditional POSIX shell functions.
 
-First of all, nushell custom commands specify the number of positional arguments
+First of all, nushell custom commands specify the number of positional arguments they take.
-they take.
 
 {{<highlight sh>}}
 def recently-modified [cutoff] {
@@ -168,8 +164,8 @@ def recently-modified [cutoff: string] {
 }
 {{</highlight>}}
 
-You can give the arguments a default value, making it optional, (can be combined
+You can give the arguments a default value, making it optional.
-with a type specification)
+(can be combined with a type specification)
 
 {{<highlight sh>}}
 def recently-modified [cutoff = '1 week ago'] {
@@ -181,9 +177,8 @@ def recently-modified [cutoff = '1 week ago'] {
 }
 {{</highlight>}}
 
-You have flag parsing, complete with short flags, is included as well. (A
+You have flag parsing, complete with short flags, is included as well.
-flag without a type will be taken as a boolean flag, set by its presence or
+(A flag without a type will be taken as a boolean flag, set by its presence or absence)
-absence)
 
 {{<highlight sh>}}
 def recently-modified [cutoff: string = '1 week ago' --older-than (-o)] {
@@ -203,8 +198,8 @@ def recently-modified [cutoff: string = '1 week ago' --older-than (-o)] {
 }
 {{</highlight>}}
 
-And finally, you can add a rest command at the end, allowing you to take a variable number of
+And finally, you can add a rest command at the end, allowing you to take a variable number of arguments.
-arguments.
+
 {{<highlight sh>}}
 def recently-modified [--cutoff = '1 week ago' ...paths] {
     for $path in $paths {
@@ -217,8 +212,8 @@ def recently-modified [--cutoff = '1 week ago' ...paths] {
 }
 {{</highlight>}}
 
-All of the specified parameters are automatically added to a generated `--help`
+All of the specified parameters are automatically added to a generated `--help` page,
-page, along with a documentation comments, so that the following code block:
+along with a documentation comments, so that the following code block:
 
 {{<highlight sh>}}
 # display recently modified files
@@ -260,13 +255,11 @@ Input/output types:
   ╰───┴───────┴────────╯
 ```
 
-(the input/output table at the bottom has to do with how the command is used in
+(the input/output table at the bottom has to do with how the command is used in a pipeline,
-a pipeline, and is covered in more detail in the
+and is covered in more detail in the [book](https://www.nushell.sh/book/command_signature.html))
-[book](https://www.nushell.sh/book/command_signature.html))
 
-This addition of easy argument parsing makes it incredibly convenient to add
+This addition of easy argument parsing makes it incredibly convenient to add command line arguments to your scripts and functions,
-command line arguments to your scripts and functions, something that is anything
+something that is anything but easy in POSIX shells.
-but easy in POSIX shells.
 
 ## Error messages
 
@@ -296,8 +289,8 @@ done
 (standard_in) 1: syntax error
 {{</highlight>}}
 
-This error tells you nothing about what went wrong, and your only option is to
+This error tells you nothing about what went wrong,
-start print debugging.
+and your only option is to start print debugging.
 
 The equivalent in nushell would be:
 
@@ -305,8 +298,9 @@ The equivalent in nushell would be:
 > ls | get size | each {|item| $item / 1000}
 {{</highlight>}}
 
-If we typo the size column, we get a nice error telling us exactly what we got
+If we typo the size column, we get a nice error telling us exactly what we got wrong,
-wrong, and where in the pipeline the error and value originated. Much better.
+and where in the pipeline the error and value originated.
+Much better.
 
 {{<highlight sh "linenos=false">}}
 > ls | get szie | each {|item| $item / 1000}
@@ -325,8 +319,8 @@ Error: nu::shell::column_not_found
 
 Now, nushell is not finished yet.
 As I write, I am running version 0.91 of nu.
-Similar to fish, it not being a POSIX shell means that you still need to drop
+Similar to fish,
-into bash or zsh in order to source env files in order to,
+it not being a POSIX shell means that you still need to drop into bash or zsh in order to source env files in order to,
 for example, use a cross-compiling c/c++ sdk.
 (thankfully, python virtualenvs already come with a nu script for you to source,
 so doing python dev will not require you to launch a POSIX shell)
@@ -362,14 +356,12 @@ def recently-modified [
 > recently-modified --cutoff '2 weeks ago' ./
 {{</highlight>}}
 
-Its certainly not the most ergonomic, but seems to be the best way at the moment
+Its certainly not the most ergonomic,
-to make 'scripts' that are integrated with the rest of nushell.
+but seems to be the best way at the moment to make 'scripts' that are integrated with the rest of nushell.
 
 ## So, overall, is it worth it?
 
-Nushell is certainly an promising project, and I will almost certainly be
+Nushell is certainly an promising project, and I will almost certainly be continuing to use it as my daily shell.
-continuing to use it as my daily shell. It cant do everything, but dropping into
+It cant do everything, but dropping into zsh for a task or two every once in a while isnt that big a deal for me,
-zsh for a task or two every once in a while isnt that big a deal for me, and
+and having access to such a powerful shell by default has made other tasks much easier.
-having access to such a powerful shell by default has made other tasks much
+If you regularly use pipelines in your default shell, consider giving Nushell a try.
-easier for me. If you regularly use pipelines in your default shell, consider
-giving Nushell a try.