UNIX is an operating system run on computers and servers in the early ages of our digital life. The rock-solid nature of UNIX inspired many modern-day OS that we all know and love, including Linux, Android, and even iOS as well as macOS.
Ken Thompson, the creator of UNIX, once talked about UNIX philosophy, a set of norms to minimalist and modular product development. Let me share with you some of my favorites.
First, small is beautiful. It means that a program or app if built complicated, may contain a lot of bugs and could be sluggish.
Second, make each program do one thing well. Creating a universal app is not a good idea because if an app can do everything, it is good at nothing.
Number three, build a prototype as soon as you can. It means you will need to turn your idea into a product as quickly as possible because you can change it and modify it in later stages; if you don’t even have a prototype, how would you even have a chance to succeed?
Last but not least, make the program and protocols extensible. Don’t constrain yourself and your app by limiting connectors and APIs. Give your product enough potential so that it can grow on top of what you built.
I hope this was helpful.
