okay, i am ashamed. i have an anxiety problem and foucs problems, which statement hopefully mitigates for me. okay, i've been running linux on my own for a couple of months, but I am really overwhelmed by trying to learn how to make awk scripts. let me state the project, and after that, what i know how to do.

/*****
1. Write a script that uses a command pipeline to compress the
contents of a file and then encrypts it, using a known key, and
writes the result to a new file.

Write another script that uses a command pipeline to take
the encrypted file, decrypts and uncompresses it to produce
the original file.

2. Write a script to find files starting in your home directory
that have not been accessed for 10 days and compress them.

3. When finished email me the three scripts in one message and sign the
message.
*******/

first, i don't know anything about a "known key" and the teacher has not responded to my questions about this. I can do "crypt key < file > file.crypt"
but that's it. and i understand awk at probably the basest level, like "awk '/chevy/' cars, but i don't understand the "{print $0 $NF }" part of the scripts.

I wish i had found this forum earlier, I'm so desperate, overwhelmed by all of this. the course is an online environment, so it's tough to get help from the teacher. thanks