this function since goals automatically flattens lists within lists
into simple lists in many cases.
+=head3 last (list)
+
+For example:
+
+ last (["a", "b", "c"]) β "c"
+
+Returns the last element of a list.
+
+=head3 nth (n, list)
+
+For example:
+
+ nth (1, ["a", "b", "c"]) β "b"
+
+Returns the nβth element of a list (counting from 0).
+
=head3 read (filename)
For example:
This takes a list of strings and sorts it, removing duplicates.
+=head3 split (string)
+
+For example:
+
+ split ("-g -O2") β ["-g", "-O2"]
+
+Split a string using shell rules into a list of strings. This is
+commonly used for splitting C<CFLAGS> provided by autoconf into a list
+for use by goals:
+
+ let CFLAGS = split ("@CFLAGS@")
+ goal compile (name) =
+ "%name.o" : "%name.c" { %CC %CFLAGS -c %< -o %@ }
+
=head3 subst (from, to, text)
For example: