UUOC

UUOC


   [from the comp.unix.shell group on Usenet] Stands for Useless Use of
   {cat}; the reference is to the Unix command cat(1), not the feline
   animal. As received wisdom on comp.unix.shell observes, "The purpose
   of cat is to concatenate (or `catenate') files. If it's only one file,
   concatenating it with nothing at all is a waste of time, and costs you
   a process." Nevertheless one sees people doing

   cat file | some_command and its args ...

   instead of the equivalent and cheaper

   <file some_command and its args ...

   or (equivalently and more classically)

   some_command and its args ... <file

   Since 1995, occasional awards for UUOC have been given out, usually by
   Perl luminary Randal L. Schwartz. There is a web page devoted to this
   and other similar awards.