feat: expanded on the scripts ideas, added a summary

src/index.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 I'm a polyglot programmer. I work in a variety of languages but mostly in [C#](/tags/c-sharp/), [Typescript](/tags/typescript/), and [Rust](/tags/rust/). Every few years, I try a new language to see if I can pick up new ideas or if one "fits" my current mental state better. This is also why I've done a lot dozens of other languages; I would say I know over thirty languages but I'm only a "master" in a handful.
 
-I also flit from project to project. I have my [writing](/categories/writing/) and games. I have little one-off programs and ones that I hope will become a major thing. But, like everything else in my life, I'm "gloriously unfocused" on my tasks which means I have to minimize the speed that I get into a project.
+I also flit from project to project. I have my [writing](/categories/writing/) and games. I have little one-off programs and ones that I hope will become a major thing. But, like everything else in my life, I'm "gloriously unfocused" on my tasks which means I have to minimize the speed that I get into a project before the muse escapes me.
 
 ## Tools Selection
 
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ Though, recent thoughts have suggested that I need to break that "one tool fits
 
 This is where being a polyglot and using different tools comes into play. I have a website that does C#, Typescript, and SASS at the same time. Which one is the "root", which command drives everything? What about a Rust project? Or something else?
 
+### Shell Scripts
+
 That has kind of led me to my current approach. Instead of always packaging Node in my projects, I really should have a standard location to handle the various actions/targets that apply to any project. Right now, that seems to be shell scripts.
 
 With shell scripts, I just have to know that `./scripts/build.sh` will do whatever is needed to build the target. Same with `./scripts/test.sh` and `./scripts/release.sh`. A Rust project may call Cargo, a .NET project will call `dotnet`, and polyglot will call any and all needed to build it.
@@ -27,3 +29,57 @@ This will give me room to experiment. If I decide I want to play with [Cake](/ta
 I also went with `.sh` suffixes on the files because while I mostly code in [Linux](/tags/linux/), I also want to support [Powershell](/tags/powershell/) and [Windows](/tags/windows/). That way, it is also clear that `build.sh` and `build.ps1` probably result in the same end-result, but specific for that language. (I know Powershell runs on Linux too.)
 
 Obviously, some documentation would be required, but that could be a `README.md` file in that directory. That will look nice in [GitLab](/tags/gitlab/) and give documentation.
+
+### Paths
+
+Fortunately, I use [direnv](https://direnv.net/) and [nix-direnv](https://github.com/nix-community/nix-direnv) frequently in my development. This loads the `flake.nix` file as soon as I enter the directory and sets up the tools I need. It also gives me a chance to modify the `PATH` variable but only for that directory which means I can add the `./scripts` folder into the path and have it available anywhere inside the project.
+
+```shell
+export PATH=$PWD/scripts:$PATH
+use flake || use nix
+```
+
+When working with packaging systems such as Node that also include scripts, I also add those into the path. In both cases, `$PWD` is always the directory with the `.envrc` file, even if I change directly into somewhere deeper into the proejct tree; using `$PWD/scripts` means that the `build.sh` command is available anywhere.
+
+```shell
+export PATH=$PWD/scripts:$PWD/node-modules/.bin:$PATH
+use flake || use nix
+```
+
+### Boilerplates
+
+Over the half year or so that I've been using this, I found that I was introducing a few new patterns into my scripts. Mostly these were to support CI/CD environments but also because I like feedback that scripts are doing something.
+
+The most notable aspects were to almost always move into the root directory of the project.
+
+```shell
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
+cd $(dirname $(dirname $0))
+```
+
+In the above case, `$0` is the name of the script. The first `dirname` gets me into the `./scripts` folder, the second gets me into the root. That means that even if I call this script from deep inside the project, the paths are always relative to the project root.
+
+The other is to set up logging so I have something to see what is going on. This is useful for the CI process, but also just so I know something is working properly. I ended up using a consistent start to the scripts to help me identify where the build process was.
+
+```shell
+log() { echo "️🧪 $(basename $0): $@"; }
+log "running tests/gregorian-tests.scm"
+# some testing code
+```
+
+When run, it looks like this:
+
+```shell
+$ test.sh
+🧪 test.sh: running tests/gregorian-tests.scm
+......................................
+----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Ran 38 tests in 0.001s
+
+OK
+$
+```
+
+Each script usually has their only Unicode character, which also gives the logs a nice colorful appearance and really makes it easier to see where things are going. I ended up using a Bash function for this because it simplifed the calls into a simple `log message` and made it easier to function.
+
+Sadly, Bash doesn't have a good packaging story, so I just copy/paste this into the top of every script along with the `#! /usr/bin/env bash` shebang. Overall, it seems to work and I've been pretty happy with it since.