Linux in a Nutshell, 6th Edition

Conceptual Overview

The stream editor, sed, is a noninteractive editor. It interprets a script and performs the actions in the script. sed is stream-oriented because, like many Unix programs, input flows through the program and is directed to standard output. For example, sort is stream-oriented; vi is not. sed’s input typically comes from a file or pipe, but it can also be taken from the keyboard. Output goes to the screen by default, but it can be captured in a file or sent through a pipe instead. GNU sed can edit files that use multibyte character sets.