The Elements of Programming Style
The Elements of Programming Style
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In setting a standard for UNIX-like systems we must first consider why we wish to do this, and effectively constrain our areas of interest. As a User Group we wish to have a common reference base for discussion whilst as a group of users we are more interested in the question of portability. Portability, not simply of software but of personnel. We look, in fact, for an environment whereby users may move with ease between different systems without perpetually residing at the low end of the learning curve. This is particularly important in the research environment, which is rarely constrained to a single architecture and with todays growing interest in distributed and networked systems. Having said this, it must be realised that in many ways, attempting to set a standard is contrary to aspects of the philosophy of a non-supported, high level language written system such as UNIX. We are not attempting to set a standard which must be obeyed by every installation, but one which must be able to be implemented on any system. Nor do we wish to be overly formal in its definition, but rather give guidelines as to what a UNIX User/Programmer might expect from a UNIX-like system.