Related:

• filter: [orig. {{UNIX}}, now also in {{MS-DOS}}] n.
  A program that processes an input data stream into an output data stream in some well-defined way, and does no I/O to anywhere else except possibly on error conditio...
• ponge: [UNIX] n. A special case of a {filter} that reads its entire input before writing any outpu
  he canonical example is a sort utility. Unlike most filters, a sponge can conveniently overwrite the input file with the output data stream....
• ponge n. [Unix] A special case of a filter that reads its entire input before writing any outpu
  he canonical example is a sort utility. Unlike most filters, a sponge can conveniently overwrite the input file with the output data stream....
• ool: 1. n. A program used primarily to create, manipulate, modify, or analyze other programs, such as a compiler or an editor or a cross-referencing program.
  Oppose {app}, {operating system}. 2. [UNIX] An application program with a simple, `transparent' (typically text-stream) interface designed specifically to be used in programmed combination with other tools (see {filter}, {plumbing})....
• magic cookie: [UNIX] n. 1. Something passed between routines or programs that enables the receiver to perform some operatio
  a capability ticket or opaque identifier. Especially used of small data objects that contain data encoded in a strange or intrinsically machine-dependent way....
• plumbing: [UNIX] n. Term used for {shell} code, so called because of the prevalence of `pipelines' that feed the output of one program to the input of another.
  Under UNIX, user utilities can often be implemented or at least prototyped by a suitable collection of pipelines and temp-file grinding encapsulated in a shell scrip...
• magic cookie n. [Unix; common] 1. Something passed between routines or programs that enables the receiver to perform some operatio
  a capability ticket or opaque identifier. Especially used of small data objects that contain data encoded in a strange or intrinsically machine-dependent way....
• ill-behaved: adj. 1. [numerical analysis] Said of an algorithm or computational method that tends to blow up because of accumulated roundoff error or poor convergence properties.
  2. Software that bypasses the defined {OS} interfaces to do things (like screen, keyboard, and disk I/O) itself, often in a way that depends on the hardware of the machine it is running on or which is nonportable or incompatible with other pieces of software....
• MS-DOS:: /M-S-dos/ [MicroSoft Disk Operating System] n.
  A {clone} of {{CP/M}} for the 8088 crufted together in 6 weeks by hacker Tim Paterson, who is said to have regretted it ever since....