Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!mips!smsc.sony.com!dce
From: dce@smsc.sony.com (David Elliott)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: The *ART* of Computer Programming
Message-ID: <1990Mar3.035938.8184@smsc.sony.com>
Date: 3 Mar 90 03:59:38 GMT
References: <12533@nigel.udel.EDU> <11270@encore.Encore.COM> <18084@rpp386.cactus.org>
Reply-To: dce@Sony.COM (David Elliott)
Organization: Sony Microsystems Corp.
Lines: 29

In article <18084@rpp386.cactus.org> jfh@rpp386.cactus.org (John F. Haugh II) writes:
>Moral is, always put your best algorithm forward ;-)

Not only that, but think about maintainers.

I spent my first 3 years out of college fixing bugs in and generally
cleaning up Unix code from BSD, AT&T, and just about every other
place imaginable.

It may sound like a simple style issue, but putting braces inside of
things like "if" statements can really help out the person fixing
your broken code.

Another thing:  If you use the shell by any method, learn how to use it.
I don't know how many times I've had to fix things like

	grep $* /usr/local/lib/phones

and

	sprintf(buf, "/foo/bar %s", file_given_by_user);
	system(buf);

(If you don't know why these examples are broken, learn!)
-- 
David Elliott
dce@smsc.sony.com | ...!{uunet,mips}!sonyusa!dce
(408)944-4073
"...it becomes natural, like a third sense." -- Homer Simpson