= Automatising crontab =

  1. Do not tinker with crontab at all for the same kinds of a task: Make crontab execute a script that handles all cases sequentially.
  1. If necessary, reserve a part of the crontab that can be modified elsewhere, recreate only that very part you actually deal with.
  1. Use separate files, like `/etc/cron.d/*`.
  1. Get rid of parsing an existing crontab, re-create it entirely when needed.


  '''Good practice: Always write a configuration file instead of editing an existing one.'''