Awka is an open-source implementation of the AWK programming language. Awka is not an interpreter like Gawk, Mawk or Nawk, but instead it converts the program to ANSI-C, then compiles this using gcc or a native C compiler to create a binary executable. As of version 0.7.0, you can write C functions and compile them into a library, then have these functions available for use in AWK scripts as if they were builtin. From now on, using Awka you are no longer bound to the limited AWK universe plus a few extras. You are free to extend functionality in whatever direction C allows you, and have this available within the concise, elegant AWK language framework. You may distribute the executable, without having to provide the source code for your AWK program. Please note, however, that executables using Awka must be distributed free of charge. Note that using the optional dfa library that accompanies awka, or compiling awka under cygwin, will subject translated C source code to the GPL, but not the AWK source. Translating AWK programs to C means you can link them with C & C++ code, thus extending functionality way beyond what is possible in interpretive AWK. Awka-generated executables perform comparatively with, and in many cases faster than, the quickest freely-available AWK interpreter.