How do you parse Apache access logs

Question

I need to extract useful information from Apache access logs, such as suspicious activity, failed login attempts, and potential attacks. My concerns are:

• What tools or scripting languages (e.g., Python, AWK) are best for parsing logs?
• How to extract key details like IPs, request types, and response codes.
• How to automate log analysis and alerting for anomalies.
  A working script or recommendations on log analysis tools would be great.