#!/usr/bin/awk -f function lookandsay(a) { s = "" c = 1 p = substr(a, 1, 1) for(i=2; i <= length(a); i++) { if ( p == substr(a, i, 1) ) { c++ } else { s = s""c""p p = substr(a, i, 1) c = 1 } } s = s""c""p return s } BEGIN { b = "1" print b for(k=1; k <= 10; k++) { b = lookandsay(b) print b } }