Unix Programming Rules

  1. Small is beautiful
  2. Make each program do one thing well
  3. Build a prototype as soon as possible
  4. Choose portability over efficiency
  5. Store numerical data in flat ASCII files
  6. Use software leverage to your advantage
  7. Use shell scripts to increase leverage and portability
  8. Avoid captive user interfaces
  9. Make every program a filter

I'm not sure where i first ran across this list, but it very much aided my thinking, steering me away from some rather dangerous deviations i may have taken. More recently i found that this list was from the book The Unix Philosophy by Mike Gancarz.



Copyright 2000-2005 Scott Parish
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