When comparing sh vs V, the Slant community recommends V for most people. In the question“What is the easiest programming language to learn for a non-programmer (actually used for production)?” V is ranked 9th while sh is ranked 19th. The most important reason people chose V is:
V is easier than C and fast like C.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Truely the most broadly available shell
It may not be the best if you want power, but if you want to write a POSIX script that will run everywhere, it's a pretty good choice.
Pro Most influential Unix shell alongside csh
Bourne shell introduced features such as piping, here documents, command substitution, variables, control structures for condition-testing and looping and filename wildcarding.
Pro Fast like C
V is easier than C and fast like C.
Pro C Interop
Can import C libraries, structs, and headers.
Pro Cross-platform
Compile to many OSes.
Pro Simplicity
V is simple and powerful.
Pro Can create multi-OS GUIs
Multi-OS GUI creation is more integrated into the language than others.
Pro Clear syntax
Highly understandable language.
Pro Sum types
V has Sum Types.
Pro Generics
V has generics.
Pro Closures
V has closures, which gives the user additional options and usefulness.
Pro Safety
V is very safe.
Pro Single paradigm
Follows the philosophy that there should be only one way to do something, as opposed to multi-paradigm languages like C++.
Pro Supports concurrency and channels
Can run functions concurrently that communicate over channels.
Pro Fast compile times
Compiles programs fast, less waiting around, so more productive and fun.
Pro Friendly and helpful community
Just check the V Discord channel or their GitHub Discussions and you will see by yourself.
Pro Inline assembly
Can add Assembly code.
Cons
Con Not suitable for interactive use
The Bourne shell has always been criticized (most notably by Bill Joy, author of csh) as being unfriendly for interactive use.
It has no tilde (~) expansion. Limited file test operators. Limited math operators.
Con Rapid changes in a language syntax/features
Since V language under a continuous development and core syntax and features will be "frozen" in a version 1.0.0, updating from older version of a language can cause a code rewrite of previously working program.
Con V 1.0 release was planned for December 2019
The first version of the language was publicly released in June of 2019, version 0.1.x. First beta version of the language was released June of 2022, version 0.3. x. Language has progressed faster than most. Welcomes contributors to join the project.