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devel / comp.unix.shell / Re: Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile

Re: Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile

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From: gerg@panix.com (gerg)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell
Subject: Re: Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2022 04:18:53 -0000 (UTC)
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by: gerg - Tue, 23 Aug 2022 04:18 UTC

Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> wrote:
>
>As they say: things you do seldom you should automate.
>

I have a different viewpoint. Things you do often should be
automated. Things you do seldom should be documented.

Writing a wiki page to document a procedure takes much less time
than writing/testing/bugfixing automation for the procedure. Both
repay the time spent creating them in small increments each time
the procedure is repeated.

The long time spent automating the steps will take 5 or 6 repeats
(or more) to repay. A seldom-used procedure may never reach that
point, but an often-used procedure will. The short time documenting
the steps will take only 1 or 2 repeats to repay - far more achievable
by a seldom-used procedure.

-Greg
--
::::::::::::: Greg Andrews ::::: gerg@panix.com :::::::::::::
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-- Steven Wright

Re: Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile

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From: janis_papanagnou@hotmail.com (Janis Papanagnou)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.shell
Subject: Re: Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile
Date: Tue, 23 Aug 2022 11:20:55 +0200
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by: Janis Papanagnou - Tue, 23 Aug 2022 09:20 UTC

On 23.08.2022 06:18, gerg wrote:
> Cecil Westerhof <Cecil@decebal.nl> wrote:
>>
>> As they say: things you do seldom you should automate.
>>
>
> I have a different viewpoint. Things you do often should be
> automated. Things you do seldom should be documented.
>
> Writing a wiki page to document a procedure takes much less time
> than writing/testing/bugfixing automation for the procedure.

It depends (see below), and I doubt it.

> Both
> repay the time spent creating them in small increments each time
> the procedure is repeated.
>
> The long time spent automating the steps will take 5 or 6 repeats
> (or more) to repay.

It depends (see below), and I doubt it.

> A seldom-used procedure may never reach that
> point, but an often-used procedure will. The short time documenting
> the steps will take only 1 or 2 repeats to repay - far more achievable
> by a seldom-used procedure.

It depends (see below), and I doubt it.

Above you have a couple hypotheses with a couple numbers added that
leave me with the impression of arbitrariness; for sure, at least,
they don't match with my experience if I see what appears to me to
be on closer examination "the whole [or rather an extended] picture".

So let me add a third opinion. - Automate it [always] if you can.

A few observations...
The posted script is implementing in a straightforward way a task;
it's easy to write it down. A procedure can be a written document,
or, well, a coded procedure. Documentation (where necessary) can be
added in-line; if that's necessary. Documenting separately supports
inconsistencies; you need a meta-procedure (or know to rely on the
folks [or yourself] doing the procedure). Any documentation doesn't
alleviate the necessity to code the task if you need it at some time.
Simple one-time tasks can be just throw-away scripts, but how sure
can one be that we don't need to use it again? - who decides that?
If you perform a task a second time you may think about scripting it,
if you perform it a third time and have no script that automate the
task it's all your own fault. It doesn't hurt to put a one-time
procedure in a file to have it available for another time. Documents
are sometimes (regularly? - very much depending on the sort of the
software and the application cases) forgotten or ignored, especially
if it's in another place and/or on another medium. To create sensible
documentation proficiently get a professional. To code a (quality)
script proficiently get a professional. Code and documentation are
not necessarily two different things. There are programming languages
and also separate tools existing that create documentation together
with and/or from the code. Some shells (ksh) do also support usage
documentation and extended man page creation from the getopts code
specification. To get any procedure right (on paper or as code) you
have to invest time; if a procedure is not obvious you have to try
it using code and not document something that actually doesn't work,
is incomplete, or plain wrong. Any coded procedure can be incrementally
enhanced, and immediately tested and validated. Any procedure on paper
has no inherent test means or validity by itself; it's non-operational
paper.

Janis

Subject	Author
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Ben Bacarisse
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics (Was: Wrote a bash sc	Kenny McCormack
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Aragorn
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Cecil Westerhof
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Cecil Westerhof
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Ed Morton
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Cecil Westerhof
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Ed Morton
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Cecil Westerhof
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Kenny McCormack
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Ed Morton
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Cecil Westerhof
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Ed Morton
Meta re: the state of the economy and various other topics	Percival John Hackworth
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Auric__
cross-post, or multi-post Was: Re: Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapf	Cecil Westerhof
cross-post, or multi-post Was: Re: Wrote a bash script to	Aragorn
cross-post, or multi-post Was: Re: Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapf	Cecil Westerhof
cross-post, or multi-post Was: Re: Wrote a bash script to create	David W. Hodgins
cross-post, or multi-post Was: Re: Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapf	Auric__
cross-post, or multi-post	Helmut Waitzmann
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Janis Papanagnou
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Ed Morton
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Kenny McCormack
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Geoff Clare
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Anssi Saari
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Lew Pitcher
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Janis Papanagnou
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Janis Papanagnou
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Janis Papanagnou
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Janis Papanagnou
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Ed Morton
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Kenny McCormack
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Aragorn
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Ed Morton
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Janis Papanagnou
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Ed Morton
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Ed Morton
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Kaz Kylheku
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Cecil Westerhof
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	gerg
Wrote a bash script to create and add a swapfile	Janis Papanagnou