Abstract

Bioinformatics software varies greatly in quality. In terms of usability, the command line interface is the first experience a user will have of a tool. Unfortunately, this is often also the last time a tool will be used. Here I present ten recommendations for command line software author's tools to follow, which I believe would greatly improve the uptake and usability of their products, waste less user's time, and improve the quality of scientific analyses.

Keywords

UsabilityUSableComputer scienceSoftwareQuality (philosophy)Software engineeringLine (geometry)Human–computer interactionWorld Wide WebProgramming language

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Publication Info

Year
2013
Type
editorial
Volume
2
Issue
1
Pages
15-15
Citations
49
Access
Closed

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Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions

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49
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Cite This

Torsten Seemann (2013). Ten recommendations for creating usable bioinformatics command line software. GigaScience , 2 (1) , 15-15. https://doi.org/10.1186/2047-217x-2-15

Identifiers

DOI
10.1186/2047-217x-2-15