In Linux, the need for text processing programs is a big one: System configuration, system management, and data exchange all use text-based files. With Awk, you have a powerful tool at your fingertips for text editing and targeted modification.
And I am a developer. I guess. Of sorts. I have written code, especially for articles. Most of the time it was “pedagogical” code, in that I wrote it to teach something, such as how to control external hardware using a web version of Scratch, or how easy it is to write an apps for a given mobile OS. But, even stuff designed for teaching has real-world applications. Thus, the Snap! expansion that I created to be able to access the Raspberry Pi’s GPIOs actually works, as does the implementation of Conway’s Game of Life
for FirefoxOS – which even got into the store.