Hi.
As with many aspects of life,
it depends.
I agree with Corona wrt Python. I bought the 5th edition of
Learning Python earlier this year -- 1500 pages !
However, for pros, it is growing in use -- it's hard to beat a number-4-slot:
Interactive: The Top Programming Languages 2015 - IEEE Spectrum
When I was designing and presenting training courses, I included
awk in the Intermediate unix-like classes (
Solaris,
Linux, etc.). It is easy to use, fast, and you will get a few of the ideas of C from the advanced syntax. In Solaris 11, Oracle has provided
gawk (3.1.8) in their repository (plus a number of other GNU utilities).
I tend to dislike
Java for the same reason that Corona mentioned -- our Java instructor often commented that it was the only language that one needed a library manual open while coding. However, Java was designed with portability as a primary concern --
write once, run anywhere.
For writing unix-like utilities without resorting to C/C++, I usually use
perl. The Intro to perl courses, were usually 3-4 8-hour days with a LOT of hands-on, as was the Intermediate Unix.
If you are going to be working with big data, extraordinarily long lines, or have compute-intensive operations, you may need other tools, but for most people, awk is the right tool for most things. When a task calls for anything to do with fields, I usually reach for awk, if there is not a utility that will do the job.
Good luck ... cheers, drl