[layer8]

I usually just pipe through sed to normalize the separators before applying cut.

[kseistrup]

That's also a little awkward, when there could easily be an option to split by all blanks.

[layer8]

I’m not defending cut here, but using sed is also pretty straightforward and fits its purpose. I’d argue that using the existing general-purpose tools is better than creating custom narrow-purpose tools in simple cases like this one. Besides maintainability and familiarity, it also exercises your proficiency in applying the standard tools.

[kseistrup]

You have a point, of course.