Add readme with Rationale and expected Usage

1 files changed, 50 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bcb6438
--- /dev/null
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# Choose
+
+This is `choose`, a human-friendly alternative to `awk` and `cut`
+
+## Rationale
+
+The AWK programming language is designed for text processing and is extremely
+capable in this endeavor. However, the `awk` command is not ideal for rapid
+shell use, with its requisite quoting of a line wrapped in curly braces, even
+for the simplest of programs:
+
+```bash
+awk '{print $1}'
+```
+
+Likewise, `cut` is far from ideal for rapid shell use, because it is difficult
+to get the confusing syntax correct on the first attempt. Field separators and
+ranges are just plain difficult to use.
+
+It is for these reasons that I present to you `choose`. It is not meant to be a
+drop-in or complete replacement for either of the aforementioned tools, but
+rather a simple and intuitive tool to reach for when the basics of `awk` or
+`cut` will do, but the overhead of getting them to behave should not be
+necessary.
+
+## Usage
+
+`choose [OPTIONS] [FIELDS] file`
+
+### Options
+
+```
+-f <NUM>        Field separator
+-i              Inclusive ranges
+```
+
+### Examples
+
+```bash
+choose 5                # print the 5th item from a line (zero indexed)
+choose -f ':' 0 3 5     # print the 0th, 3rd, and 5th item from a line, where
+                        # items are separated by ':' instead of whitespace
+choose 2:5              # print everything from the 2nd to 5th item on the line,
+                        # exclusive of the 5th
+choose -i 2:5           # print everything from the 2nd to 5th item on the line,
+                        # inclusive of the 5th
+choose :3               # print the beginning of the line to the 3rd item,
+                        # exclusive
+choose 3:               # print the third item to the end of the line
+```