Specifying psql password on command line - Mailing list pgsql-general

I've read the documentation for the psql commands as well as the createdb
and dropdb commands.  It looks like there is no way to specify the password
on the command line.  The password is always provided in the form of a stdin
prompt.

This makes it very difficult to use the commands from a shell script or a
cron job.    The same with redirecting to/from a file or piping it
somewhere.  It seems like there must be some way to specify the password on
the command line.

Am I missing something?  Any workarounds?

Thanks,
Tauren