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Michael
Michael

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You never lose the basics...

As someone who works with multiple platforms and multiple languages I often have to fall back on some sort of commonality and hit the basics.

On Windows that often was Batch, early on, then Windows versions kept advancing until PowerShell became installed by default.

With Unix versions, and docker instances, that became Shell scripting. This has been the default for awhile now when I at times don't know, or have no control over, what a Team will use for their testing.

Old Toolbox
Since I only have control over the tool, not often how its used, there are requirements I can make for people to use what I, or my Team, produce. Though I often have to stop making demands so Teams can have flexibility for what they want to do, and still provide them something they can use. That's when I fall back on the basics.

Shell scripts work well in the environment I work on, a mix of Mac OSX, AWS Cloud instances, build systems using Ubuntu, and maybe in the future GCP. Finding something that works on all usually means finding a simpler and simpler solution, to make something that works everywhere (remember "write once, use everywhere"?) requires one to be creative and flexible.

It's still amazing how powerful, and how much use, you can get out of simple shell scripts even today. The basics NEVER go away, and are something you should never forget.

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horribleninja23

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