Linux is modular code turned up to 11
I have been on a Linux training course this week, it's not as good as it sounds because it's Linux and security. The Linux stuff is good but the security stuff is a bit over the top for my needs, not to mention.
We were talking about the cat command and the teacher explained that in Linux bigger functions are often made by linking smaller functions together. This was what I was talking about the other week in my blog entry - The benefits of writing modular code. Seeing some of the Linux shell commands is a perfect example, the commands are small and well focused methods which are easily added together to do more complex things.
What made this more interesting and amazing was the fact that a lot of these functions and utilities were written by different people, maybe in different parts of the world but yet all the functions can then be used together. This is indeed the power of the modular code. I teacher said that this modular ethic was carried on from the bell labs who were I am lead to believe the main developers of Unix. This modular self contained code seems part of a logic idea behind a number of the open source developments, Apache being a good example of this. By writing in this fashion it allows people to easily add other modules without effecting the rest of the code to much.
I certainly like this aspect of Linux and the more I use Linux the more I enjoy using it, it seems in way the more I learn about Linux the less scared of it I am. This does seem to perhaps be leading me into some nasty fall where Linux will bite back. Still at the moment I am enjoying learning about it, it reminds me a bit of my university years where I didn't really have a clue how computers worked.
don't forget to check out my new blog http://amusingitstories.blogspot.com this Friday and beyond.
We were talking about the cat command and the teacher explained that in Linux bigger functions are often made by linking smaller functions together. This was what I was talking about the other week in my blog entry - The benefits of writing modular code. Seeing some of the Linux shell commands is a perfect example, the commands are small and well focused methods which are easily added together to do more complex things.
What made this more interesting and amazing was the fact that a lot of these functions and utilities were written by different people, maybe in different parts of the world but yet all the functions can then be used together. This is indeed the power of the modular code. I teacher said that this modular ethic was carried on from the bell labs who were I am lead to believe the main developers of Unix. This modular self contained code seems part of a logic idea behind a number of the open source developments, Apache being a good example of this. By writing in this fashion it allows people to easily add other modules without effecting the rest of the code to much.
I certainly like this aspect of Linux and the more I use Linux the more I enjoy using it, it seems in way the more I learn about Linux the less scared of it I am. This does seem to perhaps be leading me into some nasty fall where Linux will bite back. Still at the moment I am enjoying learning about it, it reminds me a bit of my university years where I didn't really have a clue how computers worked.
don't forget to check out my new blog http://amusingitstories.blogspot.com this Friday and beyond.
posted by The Hosk at
9:04 pm
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