So you’re about to type something repetitive for the 20th time are you? Wait!
Repetition is bad:
- It vastly increases the chance of accidental mistakes.
- It wastes time.
- It wastes space.
- It vastly increases the chance of accdental mistakes.
Consider using m4
for your repetitive text needs
m4
is available on pretty much every system and is a pretty sweet macro system. Much nicer than cpp! For example, here’s the result of me m4
-ing up my hledger journal file:
Before:
01/05 * Dad money unallocated £650 income:dad -£650 01/06 * Shopping expenses:food £4.03 budget:food -£4.03 assets:hand -£4.03 unallocated £4.03 01/08 * Withdrawal assets:hand £40 unallocated -£40
After:
01/05 * Dad money income_from(dad, £650) 01/06 * Shopping cash_budget_spend(food, £4.03) 01/08 * Withdrawal cash_withdraw(£40)
So much simpler!
Use m4
.