awk is most useful when handling text files that are formatted in a predictable way. For instance, it is excellent at parsing and manipulating tabular data. It operates on a line-by-line basis and iterates through the entire file. By default, it uses whitespace (spaces, tabs, etc.) to separate fields.

What is awk useful for?

Awk is a scripting language used for manipulating data and generating reports. ... Awk is mostly used for pattern scanning and processing. It searches one or more files to see if they contain lines that matches with the specified patterns and then perform the associated actions.

Should I use awk or sed?

Conclusion: Use sed for very simple text parsing. Anything beyond that, awk is better. In fact, you can ditch sed altogether and just use awk. Since their functions overlap and awk can do more, just use awk.