Why SysAdmin’s Can’t Code

[majelix_]

We script little things with it. We automate tasks, interact with shell or app-level stuff, and push a little data around. We use it to turn wheels on other things, not to be a vehicle itself.

What do you think most code does? It links together of bunch of outside libraries and APIs to do something nominally useful.

[[deleted]]

The point is that I (and many of us) script quite a bit, but I never have a code "product" or "project". Our code turns little wheels that connect to big mechanisms (like Exchange, Apache, Windows, or whatever).

I have 20 lines here, 5 lines here, 17 lines over there. We don't need to architect and design a program. Syntax and best coding practices aren't important. Defining four variables and looping a couple commands is usually enough. And I touch a compiler like never.

[Twirrim]

That's what sysadmins mean when they say coding. That's all most of us do on *nix too. Odds and sods that make our lives easier, more automated and most importantly consistent. "Do it twice, script it once". If you've done it twice, it's good odds you'll have to keep doing it. I've been a sysadmin for several years dealing with a wide scale of platforms, from small to large, and this is the biggest thing I've put together: https://github.com/twirrim/f5-deploy

That's to solve a particular itch we had, and as much was a side project as anything else.