I often see xargs -I {} or xargs -I % (less). Is there any reason why those two are commonly used? Why is {}, as longer and more likely to be bad-interpreted, preferred?
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{} is also seen in find, and python. % has a long historical tradition in printf-family commands in most programming languages, but mostly as a prefix to sequences like %s or %d, so it's not the first thought to use it alone.
There is also a simpler reason. The -i switch that is now deprecated, implied {} if you didn't specify a different one. It appears that the original developers used this form (quite possibly inspired by find), and shipped a default setting and a rich series of example uses in tutorials that use {}. The rest of the users simply propagated this choice.
orion
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This answers the question why (kind of):
"{}" is common because xargs stems from the same family as find, and find uses "{}" for exec and exedir.
Why find uses "{}" I don't know, though. :)
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