[ketralnis]

If the UI is my shell then it is. If it's part of a larger script being executed by python embedded in a cron job wrapped in a burrito, it may not be

[Kwpolska]

If you've got Python, you shouldn't be running grep within it, just open the file with Python and search through it in the usual ways. Far less flaky than a subprocess.

[pavel_lishin]

Shouldn't, sure. But people use software in all kinds of sub-optimal ways, and it would behoove an author to make sure that it doesn't fail dramatically when this happens.

[shadowgovt]

I'm not even sure it's suboptimal to shell out to grep instead of writing a bespoke search in Python. It would depend on the amount of data I'm sifting through.

Grep is very optimized for what it does.

[WJW]

You misunderstand entirely how much the author of any software with "achievements" cares about whether it works well in shell scripts and/or from python.

[shadowgovt]

Wrappers are still responsible for proxying or handling errors and wrappers that fail to do so are wrapping poorly.

[timgilbert]

Don't bring monads into this