Purl – A Simple Tool for Text Processing
Hello HN community, I'm excited to share a new command-line tool I developed called purl, inspired by the simplicity of Perl one-liners for efficient text processing. Purl features include Perl-like regex that simplifies text manipulation, it's cross-platform so works equally well on macOS, Linux, etc., and it's quick and easy to install. The tool also supports simple commands such as -replace, -filter, and -exclude, and offers optional color output to enhance readability. Purl is a practical alternative to traditional tools like sed and grep, designed to address some of their common…
Purl – A Simple Tool for Text Processing launched on April 13, 2024 with 71 votes, #621 of 4,347 launches that month and more than 90% of that year's launches. The site was still online in September 2026, 2 years on.
In plain words
Purl is a command-line tool for text processing that uses Perl-like regular expressions to simplify common operations like replacing, filtering, and excluding text. It runs on macOS, Linux, and other platforms, offering an alternative to traditional tools like sed and grep. The tool includes optional color output for better readability and is designed to be quick and easy to install.
written from the facts on this page · September 2026
From the sources
Streamlining Text Processing. Contribute to catatsuy/purl development by creating an account on GitHub.
In the maker’s words, at launch
Hello HN community, I'm excited to share a new command-line tool I developed called purl, inspired by the simplicity of Perl one-liners for efficient text processing. Purl features include Perl-like regex that simplifies text manipulation, it's cross-platform so works equally well on macOS, Linux, etc., and it's…
Does a similar job
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Hurl – Run and test HTTP requests with plain text, curl and Rust2021 · hurl.dev · ▲223Hurl, run and test HTTP requests with plain text and curl. Hurl can run fast automated integration tests.
Bsed – Simple, English syntax on top of Perl text processing2019 · github.com · ▲178Simple SQL-like syntax on top of Perl text processing. - andrewbihl/bsed
Xplr – A hackable, minimal, fast TUI file explorer2021 · github.com · ▲205A hackable, minimal, fast TUI file explorer. Contribute to sayanarijit/xplr development by creating an account on GitHub.
Prig – like AWK, but uses Go for “scripting”2022 · benhoyt.com · ▲77Describes Prig, which is for Processing Records In Go. It's a text processing tool like AWK, but it uses Go as the scripting language.
Purls – Personal URL Shortener2018 · github.com · ▲13Personal URL Shortener. Contribute to hq6/purls development by creating an account on GitHub.
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