PipePipe is a Unix command which allows a user to filter (or "pipe") one command to another in a string. It is useful when working with large amounts of data, as it cuts down on the complexity of programming required to achieve a desired result.
Pipe strings two commands together in order to perform them one after the other. In this way, the output from the first command becomes the input for the second. An example of when this might be useful is a situation in which a user wishes to obtain all data fitting within a defined parameter, and then have it sorted. Piping would perform the two tasks with very little command input from the user, and it would save time, especially if there was a lot of data involved.
The following is an example of the syntax used in specifying the Pipe command:
command1 | command2 - Pipe the output of command1 into command2
Pipe is one of the many commands of Unix, which is a widely-used operating system for the Internet. The popularity of Unix in accessing the Internet lies in its versatility. It is designed to be both multi-tasking and multi-user oriented. This means that lots of people can do lots of things at the same time. The original unix operating system was developed in the 1960s, but many companies have since joined the market by designing their own character-based command-line interfaces (those which require the user to access data by typing in commands over the keyboard). Unix was designed to be a operating system that would rise above platform specific systems by working on all computers. Although it has not superceded the use of MS-DOS for PCs or MacOS for personal computers, its virtually platform independent design has made it the ideal choice for networking, which involves a lot of dissimilar computers working together. Unix can be used as a means of reading and sending e-mail, serving and downloading files from the Internet, and accessing information which requires telnet or ftp.