Unix philosophy

1. Rule of Modularity: Write simple parts connected by clean interfaces.

2. Rule of Composition: Design programs to be connected to other programs.

3. Rule of Clarity: Clarity is better than cleverness.

4. Rule of Simplicity: Design for simplicity; add complexity only where you must.

5. Rule of Transparency: Design for visibility to make inspection and debugging easier.

6. Rule of Robustness: Robustness is the child of transparency and simplicity.

7. Rule of Least Surprise: In interface design, always do the least surprising thing.

8. Rule of Repair: When you must fail, fail noisily and as soon as possible.

9. Rule of Economy: Programmer time is expensive; conserve it in preference to machine time.

10. Rule of Generation: Avoid hand-hacking; write programs to write programs when you can.

11. Rule of Representation: Use smart data so program logic can be stupid and robust.

12. Rule of Separation: Separate policy from mechanism; separate interfaces from engines.

13. Rule of Optimization: Prototype before polishing. Get it working before you optimize it.

14. Rule of Diversity: Distrust all claims for "one true way"

15. Rule of Extensibility: Design for the future, because it will be here sooner than you think.