Yeah I should clarify; I think it's well past the time of sh.

Still, sh is unrivaled for portability and brevity/velocity; I wouldn't swap virtually any the shell scripts I've written for python scripts. I think sh is a decent and often well-suited tool if you can manage to wield it properly (not a straightforward endeavor).

I look forward to checking out oilshell though, so thank you~

Edit: FWIW for arrays in POSIX sh I generally only use:

  set -- a b c
  echo $#
  echo "$1"
  shift
  echo "$@"

Once in a blue moon "$*" or maybe an unquoted $@. See 2.5.2 of https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/utilities/V... (My go-to reference)