Be Aware of the Makefile Effect

> the tool (or system) is too complicated (or annoying) to use from scratch.

Or boring: some systems require boilerplate with no added value. It's normal to copy & paste from previous works.

Makefiles are a good example. Every makefile author must write their own functionally identical "clean" target. Shouldn't there be an implicit default?

C is not immune, either. How many bits of interesting information do you spot in the following excerpt?

  #include <stdio.h>
  int main(int argc, char **argv)
  {
    printf("Hello\n");
    return 0;
  }

The printf alone is the real payload, the rest conveys no information. (Suggestion for compiler authors: since the programs that include stdio.h outnumber those that don't, wouldn't it be saner for a compiler to automatically do it for us, and accept a flag to not do it in those rare cases where we want to deviate?)