Systems Integration: No Assumptions

There are many sayings about assumptions and I’ll let you fill in your favorite. Regarding Systems Integration, the hard lesson I’ve learned is not to assume the other system will properly filter or handle a specific constraint. For example, Windows systems use a carriage-return-line-feed to mark the end-of-a-line. However, UNIX systems simply use a line-feed to mark the end-of-a-line. This is not to say that UNIX systems can’t handle files containing CRLF’s. It just means that most UNIX Systems just use an LF to mark the end-of-a-line.