#! hacks

Scripts are executed as #!interpreter [arg] and most often as #!/usr/bin/env interpreter. As older versions of env did not support additional arguments, clever hacks were needed instead. This repo catalogs single file workarounds.

Modern env users should always favor -S / --split-string= instead of any of these hacks. Eg:

#!/usr/bin/env -S deno --quiet run --allow-read --allow-write --check=typescript

Script Guidelines

• Must be self-contained as a single file executable
• Must support any number of interpreter arguments inline
• Must use #!/usr/bin/env interpreter
• Must echo the first argument with zero exit status
• Must exit with nonzero status when no argument
• Must work as any filename but should be named after the target program
• Should be a paradigm (terse, clear, extensible)
• May (or may not) work when the script in its entirety is interpreted by interpreter. For example, python demo/python $RANDOM and demo/python $RANDOM are equivalent but only demo/make $RANDOM, not make -f demo/make $RANDOM works

License (Public Domain)

All code in this repository is public domain and may be used without limitation.