UUCPNET | = U = | V7

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.

UUCPNET | = U = | V7