The printf command is built into zsh. I'm not sure what makes it "fancy" or
non-native.

(Of the three printing commands it's also the one that works the same
across bash, ksh, and zsh, but that's not a concern if you're writing a
specifically zsh script.)

Mark J. Reed <markjreed@gmail.com>


On Mon, May 6, 2024 at 19:04 Ray Andrews <rayandrews@eastlink.ca> wrote:

>
>
> On 2024-05-06 15:38, Mark J. Reed wrote:
> > or, more efficiently:
> >
> >     printf -v spacer "%${diff}s" ''
> Nice and compact.  One thing tho, I'm not sure this is the correct way
> to think, but I have an instinct to stay away from 'fancy' commands like
> printf and to rely on native zsh code where possible.  Legit?  Or false
> frugality?  What I half-remember is some loop that has an iteration
> counter.  Mind, there was one of Roman's speed tests where he used an
> external command and had a huge performance improvement, so thereyago.
>
>
>