.Old, .Tmp, .Bak - The Source Control From Hell

time to read 1 min | 195 words

Imagine the following file listing:

do_stuff.old         do_stuff.tmp                  do_stff.sh1
do_stuff.bak        do_stuff.sh.jhon              so_dtuff.sh
do_stuff.sh.2       do_stuff.sh                    tmp_dostuff.sh
do_stuff2.sh        do_stuff2.new                
do_stuff3.old       do_stuff2.newer
do_stuff2.sql       do_stuffie.sql.old
do_stuff.sql         do_stuff.sql.dont-run

Quick, which file is the correct one? Now multiply that by ten, then add at least three different types of scripts, a truly random directory structure, file names that were written by someone with only half a keyboard and that was taxed per letter, and you may see what I did today. Oh, and just for kicks, spread the responsibilities randomly between shell scripts, sql scripts and stored procedures.

Did I mention a case senstivie file system yet?