Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!henry From: henry@utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: Command interfaces Message-ID: <9082@utzoo.UUCP> Date: Wed, 9-Dec-87 17:13:54 EST Article-I.D.: utzoo.9082 Posted: Wed Dec 9 17:13:54 1987 Date-Received: Wed, 9-Dec-87 17:13:54 EST References: <1257@boulder.Colorado.EDU> <6840002@hpcllmv.HP.COM> Organization: U of Toronto Zoology Lines: 17 > ... Well, the > easier it was for the author of a program to write it, the better the > chance he got it right... As somebody (Kernighan?) once pointed out, if you want people to observe standards, being standard must be easier than being non-standard. Why do people use stdio, or the math functions? Because it's easier than doing it yourself, unless you have special needs. Why don't people use getopt more? Because the interface to getopt is a little complicated and it is hard to get it right when you are typing a program in from scratch. (For some discussion about why this is the wrong way to program, and how to avoid it, come to the Dallas Usenix and listen to my talk!) Why is command syntax such a chaotic mess on systems like TOPS-10? Because it is harder to do it right than to fudge it crudely. -- Those who do not understand Unix are | Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology condemned to reinvent it, poorly. | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry