Unix/C program modularity

[David M. Haynes]

> In <637 at dicomed.UUCP>, Kurt Papke writes...
> 
> 	Applications programs that have been designed to run under Unix
> 	tend to have a low percentage of re-usable code.
> 
> Why might this be the case ??  Further inspection of much code shows that
> applications designed for the Unix environment tend to follow the spirit
> of the Unix operating system: design your system as a series of small
> programs and "pipe" them together (revelationary!)

Such an approach implies at least one scenario for this type of code.
Programmer A has been given an assignment and writes small, easily
debugged pieces of code to test the design and general algorithms of
the task. This done, s/he approaches his/her manager for approval of
the design. The mananger says great! It works! Let's leave that code
alone. Here's your next assignment. Voila! Design code becomes production
code in one easy step! (I must have seen this one happen millions of times)

> Are we being lulled into using an O/S and language that allows us to whip
> together quicky demos to demonstrate concepts, at the expense of long-term
> usefulness as a finished product ??

Only when MANGEMENT has not allowed sufficient time/resources for the
implementation of production code and has not set the STANDARDS required for
code to be accepted as production code. Can you say code review?

One of the things UNIX (and C) has allowed programmers and designers is
the opportunity to test concepts and algorithms before committing
major resources to a project. I have been involved in projects where the
end product would not work simply because the basic assumptions made
in the design were not valid, but there was no method for spotting the
problem a priori. UNIX allows designers to, at least, test the concepts
ahead of time.

-david-
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