diff --git a/developer/bin/develop_brew_cask b/developer/bin/develop_brew_cask
index 5d82071eaa..d7123abd61 100755
--- a/developer/bin/develop_brew_cask
+++ b/developer/bin/develop_brew_cask
@@ -3,17 +3,43 @@
 # develop_brew_cask
 #
 
-set -e;               # exit on any uncaught error
-set +o histexpand;    # don't expand history expressions
-shopt -s nocasematch; # case-insensitive regular expressions
+###
+### settings
+###
+
+set -e               # exit on any uncaught error
+set +o histexpand    # don't expand history expressions
+shopt -s nocasematch # case-insensitive regular expressions
+
+###
+### configurable global variables
+###
+
+tap_subdir="Library/Taps/phinze-cask"
+
+###
+### functions
+###
+
+warn () {
+    local message="$@"
+    if ! [[ $message =~ "\n"$ ]]; then
+        message="${message}\n"
+    fi
+    printf "$message" 1>&2
+}
+
+die () {
+    warn "$@"
+    exit 1
+}
 
 cd_to_project_root () {
     local script_dir="$(/usr/bin/dirname $0)"
     cd "$script_dir"
     local git_root="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
     if [[ -z "$git_root" ]]; then
-        printf "Could not find git project root"
-        exit 1;
+        die "ERROR: Could not find git project root"
     fi
     cd "$git_root"
 }
@@ -22,15 +48,22 @@ cd_to_version_dir () {
     local cellar_dir="$1"
     local version_dir="$2"
     if [[ -z "$version_dir" ]]; then
-        printf "Can't get version dir under $cellar_dir/\n";
-        exit 1;
+        die "ERROR: Could not find version dir under $cellar_dir/"
     fi
     cd "$cellar_dir/$version_dir"
 }
 
+not_inside_homebrew () {
+    local tap_dir="$1"
+    local git_root="$2"
+    if [[ "$(/usr/bin/stat -L -f '%i' "$tap_dir")" -eq "$(/usr/bin/stat -L -f '%i' "$git_root")" ]]; then
+        die "\nERROR: Run this script in your private repo, not inside Homebrew.\n"
+    fi
+}
+
 create_dev_links () {
-    local git_root="$1"
-    local tap_dir="$2"
+    local tap_dir="$1"
+    local git_root="$2"
     /bin/mv rubylib production_rubylib
     /bin/mv Casks   production_Casks
     /bin/ln -s "$git_root/Casks" .
@@ -40,46 +73,44 @@ create_dev_links () {
     /bin/mv Casks production_Casks
     /bin/ln -s "$git_root/Casks" .
     /bin/ln -s "$git_root/lib"   .
+    printf "brew-cask is now in development mode\n"
+    printf "Note: it is not safe to run 'brew update' while in development mode\n"
 }
 
+###
+### main
+###
+
 _develop_brew_cask () {
 
-    # configurable
-    local tap_subdir="Library/Taps/phinze-cask"
-
     # initialization
-    cd_to_project_root;
-    local git_root="$(pwd)"
+    cd_to_project_root
+    local git_root="$(/bin/pwd)"
     local brew_prefix="$(brew --prefix)"
     local cellar_dir="$brew_prefix/Cellar/brew-cask"
     local version_dir="$(/bin/ls "$cellar_dir/" | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/tail -1)"
     local tap_dir="$brew_prefix/$tap_subdir"
 
     # sanity check
-    if [[ "$(/usr/bin/stat -L -f '%i' "$tap_dir")" -eq "$(/usr/bin/stat -L -f '%i' "$git_root")" ]]; then
-        printf "\nERROR: run this script in your private repo, not inside Homebrew.\n";
-        exit 1;
-    fi
+    not_inside_homebrew "$tap_dir" "$git_root"
 
     # action
-    cd_to_version_dir "$cellar_dir" "$version_dir";
+    cd_to_version_dir "$cellar_dir" "$version_dir"
     if [[ -e "production_rubylib" ]]; then
-        printf "brew-cask is already set up for development\n";
-        exit 1
+        die "brew-cask is already set up for development"
     else
-        create_dev_links "$git_root" "$tap_dir";
-        printf "brew-cask is now in development mode\n"
-        printf "Note: it is not safe to run 'brew update' while in development mode\n"
+        create_dev_links "$tap_dir" "$git_root"
     fi
 
 }
 
+# process args
 if [[ $1 =~ ^-+h(elp)?$ ]]; then
     printf "develop_brew_cask
 
 Symlink private repo directories into Homebrew's Cellar, so
-that the 'brew cask' command will use the current development
-branch in your private repo.
+that the 'brew cask' command will use code and Casks from 
+the current development branch in your private repo.
 
 Saves the production Homebrew directories under new names.
 
@@ -92,6 +123,7 @@ mode is in effect.
     exit
 fi
 
-_develop_brew_cask "$@";
+# dispatch main
+_develop_brew_cask "${@}"
 
 #
diff --git a/developer/bin/get_release_tag b/developer/bin/get_release_tag
index da7ecd8086..d7932f78cc 100755
--- a/developer/bin/get_release_tag
+++ b/developer/bin/get_release_tag
@@ -3,20 +3,36 @@
 # get_release_tag
 #
 
-set -e;               # exit on any uncaught error
-set +o histexpand;    # don't expand history expressions
-shopt -s nocasematch; # case-insensitive regular expressions
+###
+### settings
+###
 
-opt_next='';
-opt_latest='';
-opt_verbose='';
+set -e               # exit on any uncaught error
+set +o histexpand    # don't expand history expressions
+shopt -s nocasematch # case-insensitive regular expressions
 
-die () {
-    local message="$@";
+###
+### global variables
+###
+
+opt_next=''
+opt_latest=''
+opt_verbose=''
+
+###
+### functions
+###
+
+warn () {
+    local message="$@"
     if ! [[ $message =~ "\n"$ ]]; then
         message="${message}\n"
     fi
     printf "$message" 1>&2
+}
+
+die () {
+    warn "$@"
     exit 1
 }
 
@@ -25,23 +41,23 @@ cd_to_project_root () {
     cd "$script_dir"
     local git_root="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
     if [[ -z "$git_root" ]]; then
-        die "Could not find git project root"
+        die "ERROR: Could not find git project root"
     fi
     cd "$git_root"
 }
 
 verify_git_object_is_new () {
     if git rev-parse --verify "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-        die "\nERROR: proposed new tag: '$1' already exists as a commit object\n\n"
+        die "\nERROR: Proposed new tag: '$1' already exists as a commit object\n\n"
     fi
 }
 
 sanity_check_parsed_version () {
     if [[ $# -ne 3 ]]; then
-        die "Error: can't parse version tag, wrong number of elements"
+        die "ERROR: Could not parse version tag: wrong number of elements"
     fi
     if ! [[ $1 =~ ^v[0-9]+$ ]]; then
-        die "Error: can't parse version tag, does not start with v[0-9]"
+        die "ERROR: Could not parse version tag: does not start with v[0-9]"
     fi
 }
 
@@ -71,7 +87,7 @@ generate_next_major_tag () {
 
 generate_next_minor_tag () {
     local -a version_elts
-    IFS='.' read -a version_elts <<< "$1";
+    IFS='.' read -a version_elts <<< "$1"
     sanity_check_parsed_version "${version_elts[@]}"
     (( version_elts[1] += 1 ))      # increment minor field
     version_elts[2]='0'             # reset patch field
@@ -123,30 +139,34 @@ See RELEASING.md for more information.
             fi
         elif [[ $arg =~ ^-+patch$ ]]; then
             if [[ "$opt_next" == 'major' ]]; then
-                die "Error: -patch is incompatible with -major";
+                die "ERROR: -patch is incompatible with -major"
             fi
             opt_next='patch'
         elif [[ $arg =~ ^-+major$ ]]; then
             if [[ "$opt_next" == 'patch' ]]; then
-                die "Error: -patch is incompatible with -major";
+                die "ERROR: -patch is incompatible with -major"
             fi
             opt_next='major'
         elif [[ $arg =~ ^-+latest$ ]]; then
             opt_latest='true'
         else
-            die "Error: unknown argument '$arg'"
+            die "ERROR: Unknown argument '$arg'"
         fi
         if [[ -n "$opt_latest" && -n "$opt_next" ]]; then
-            die "Error: -latest is incompatible with -next/-patch/-major"
+            die "ERROR: -latest is incompatible with -next/-patch/-major"
         fi
     done
 }
 
+###
+### main
+###
+
 _get_release_tag () {
-    cd_to_project_root;
+    cd_to_project_root
     local latest_tag="$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0 2>/dev/null)"
     if [[ -z "$latest_tag" ]]; then
-        die "Error: no recent tag found"
+        die "ERROR: No recent tag found"
     elif [[ -z "$opt_next" ]]; then
         if [[ -n "$opt_verbose" ]]; then
             printf "Latest tag\t"
@@ -159,12 +179,13 @@ _get_release_tag () {
     elif [[ "$opt_next" == 'patch' ]]; then
         generate_next_patch_tag "$latest_tag"
     else
-        die "Error: should not happen. Unknown argument?"
+        die "ERROR: Should not happen. Unknown argument?"
     fi
 }
 
-process_args "$@";
+process_args "${@}"
 
-_get_release_tag;
+# dispatch main
+_get_release_tag
 
 #
diff --git a/developer/bin/list_apps_in_pkg b/developer/bin/list_apps_in_pkg
index 2a1b863945..4d5ece1f73 100755
--- a/developer/bin/list_apps_in_pkg
+++ b/developer/bin/list_apps_in_pkg
@@ -3,41 +3,82 @@
 # list_apps_in_pkg
 #
 
-set -e;                # exit on any uncaught error
-set +o histexpand;     # don't expand history expressions
-shopt -s nocasematch;  # case-insensitive regular expressions
+###
+### settings
+###
 
-_list_apps_in_pkg () {
+set -e                # exit on any uncaught error
+set +o histexpand     # don't expand history expressions
+shopt -s nocasematch  # case-insensitive regular expressions
 
-    local tmpdir=`/usr/bin/mktemp -d -t list_apps_in_pkg`
-    trap "/bin/rm -rf '$tmpdir'" EXIT
+###
+### global variables
+###
 
-    /usr/sbin/pkgutil --expand "$1" "$tmpdir/unpack"
+opt_lax=''
+opt_pkg=''
+tmpdir=''
 
-    {
-      # source 1
-      /usr/bin/find "$tmpdir" -name PackageInfo -print0 |   \
-      /usr/bin/xargs -0 /usr/bin/perl -0777 -ne             \
-       'while (m{<pkg-info[^\n]*install-location="/Applications".*?path\s*=\s*"([^"]+)"}sg) { my $p = $1; $p =~ s{\A.*/}{}; print "$p\n" }'; \
-      # source 2
-      /usr/bin/find "$tmpdir" -name PackageInfo -print0  |  \
-      /usr/bin/xargs -0 /usr/bin/perl -0777 -ne             \
-        'while (m{<pkg-info[^\n]*install-location="/".*?path\s*=\s*"./Applications/([^"]+)"}sg) { my $p = $1; $p =~ s{\A.*/}{}; print "$p\n" }';
-      # source 3
-      /usr/bin/find "$tmpdir" -type d -name '*.app' |       \
-      perl -pe 's{\A.*/}{}';                                \
-    } |                                                     \
-    # merge sources
-    /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq |                         \
-    # markup
+###
+### functions
+###
+
+warn () {
+    local message="$@"
+    if ! [[ $message =~ "\n"$ ]]; then
+        message="${message}\n"
+    fi
+    printf "$message" 1>&2
+}
+
+die () {
+    warn "$@"
+    exit 1
+}
+
+app_source_1 () {
+    /usr/bin/find "$tmpdir" -name PackageInfo -print0 |   \
+    /usr/bin/xargs -0 /usr/bin/perl -0777 -ne             \
+      'while (m{<pkg-info[^\n]*install-location="/Applications".*?path\s*=\s*"([^"]+)"}sg) { my $p = $1; $p =~ s{\A.*/}{}; print "$p\n" }';
+}
+
+app_source_2 () {
+    /usr/bin/find "$tmpdir" -name PackageInfo -print0  |  \
+    /usr/bin/xargs -0 /usr/bin/perl -0777 -ne             \
+      'while (m{<pkg-info[^\n]*install-location="/".*?path\s*=\s*"./Applications/([^"]+)"}sg) { my $p = $1; $p =~ s{\A.*/}{}; print "$p\n" }';
+}
+
+app_source_3 () {
+    /usr/bin/find "$tmpdir" -type d -name '*.app' |       \
+    perl -pe 's{\A.*/}{}';
+}
+
+app_source_4 () {
+    /usr/bin/find "$tmpdir" -name PackageInfo -print0  |  \
+    /usr/bin/xargs -0 /usr/bin/perl -0777 -ne             \
+      'while (m{path\s*=\s*"([^"]+\.app)"}sg) { my $p = $1; $p =~ s{\A.*/}{}; print "$p\n" }';
+}
+
+merge_sources () {
+    /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq
+}
+
+mark_up_sources () {
     /usr/bin/perl -pe 's{\n}{\000}sg' |                     \
     /usr/bin/xargs -0 -I{} -n1 /bin/bash -c                 \
       'printf "{}"; /bin/test -n "$(/usr/bin/find /Applications -type d -maxdepth 3 -name "{}" -print0; /usr/bin/find ~/Applications -type d -maxdepth 3 -name "{}")" && printf " (+)"; printf "\n"'
-
 }
 
-if [[ $1 =~ ^-+h(elp)?$ || -z "$1" ]]; then
-    printf "list_apps_in_pkg <file.pkg>
+process_args () {
+    local arg
+    if [[ "$#" -eq 0 ]]; then
+        die "ERROR: A file argument is required"
+    else
+        opt_pkg="${!#}"   # last arg
+    fi
+    for arg in "$@"; do
+        if [[ $arg =~ ^-+h(elp)?$ ]]; then
+            printf "list_apps_in_pkg [ -lax ] <file.pkg>
 
 Given a package file, extract a list of candidate App names from
 inside the pkg, which may be useful for naming a Cask.
@@ -48,7 +89,12 @@ If an App of the listed name is already installed in /Applications
 or ~/Applications, it will be followed by a plus symbol '(+)' in
 the output.  This can be verified via 'ls' or the Finder.
 
-This script is imperfect.
+Arguments
+
+   -lax   Be less selective in looking for App names.  Generate
+          more, but less accurate, guesses.
+
+Bugs: This script is imperfect.
  - It does not fully parse PackageInfo files
  - An App can be hidden within a nested archive and not found
  - Some pkg files simply don't contain any Apps
@@ -56,9 +102,47 @@ This script is imperfect.
 See CONTRIBUTING.md and 'man pkgutil' for more information.
 
 "
-    exit
-fi
+            exit
+        elif [[ $arg =~ ^-+lax$ ]]; then
+            opt_lax='true'
+        elif [[ "$arg" = "$opt_pkg" ]]; then
+            opt_latest='true'
+        else
+            die "ERROR: Unknown argument '$arg'"
+        fi
+    done
+    if ! [[ -e "$opt_pkg" ]]; then
+        die "ERROR: No such pkg file: '$opt_pkg'"
+    fi
+}
 
-_list_apps_in_pkg "$@";
+###
+### main
+###
+
+_list_apps_in_pkg () {
+
+    tmpdir=`/usr/bin/mktemp -d -t list_apps_in_pkg`
+    trap "/bin/rm -rf '$tmpdir'" EXIT
+
+    /usr/sbin/pkgutil --expand "$opt_pkg" "$tmpdir/unpack"
+
+    {
+      # strings that look like App names (Something.app)
+      app_source_1;
+      app_source_2;
+      app_source_3;
+      if [[ -n "$opt_lax" ]]; then
+          app_source_4;
+      fi
+    } |                \
+    merge_sources |    \
+    mark_up_sources
+}
+
+process_args "${@}"
+
+# dispatch main
+_list_apps_in_pkg
 
 #
diff --git a/developer/bin/list_ids_in_pkg b/developer/bin/list_ids_in_pkg
index ea38ec78c5..a7a2fff687 100755
--- a/developer/bin/list_ids_in_pkg
+++ b/developer/bin/list_ids_in_pkg
@@ -3,29 +3,67 @@
 # list_ids_in_pkg
 #
 
-set -e;                # exit on any uncaught error
-set +o histexpand;     # don't expand history expressions
-shopt -s nocasematch;  # case-insensitive regular expressions
+###
+### settings
+###
+
+set -e                # exit on any uncaught error
+set +o histexpand     # don't expand history expressions
+shopt -s nocasematch  # case-insensitive regular expressions
+
+###
+### global variables
+###
+
+tmpdir=''
+
+###
+### functions
+###
+
+bundle_id_source_1 () {
+    /usr/bin/find "$tmpdir" -name PackageInfo -print0 |                                \
+    /usr/bin/xargs -0 /usr/bin/perl -0777 -ne                                          \
+      'while (m{<pkg-info.*?\sid(?:entifier)?\s*=\s*"([^"]*?)"}sg) { print "$1\n" }'
+}
+
+merge_sources () {
+    /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq
+}
+
+clean_sources () {
+    /usr/bin/egrep -v '^com\.apple\.' |                                                \
+    /usr/bin/egrep -v 'sparkle\.finish-installation$'
+}
+
+mark_up_sources () {
+    /usr/bin/perl -pe 's{\n}{\000}sg' |                                                \
+    /usr/bin/xargs -0 -I{} -n1 /bin/bash -c                                            \
+      'printf "{}"; /usr/sbin/pkgutil --pkg-info "{}" >/dev/null 2>&1 && printf " (+)"; printf "\n"'
+}
+
+###
+### main
+###
 
 _list_ids_in_pkg () {
 
-    local tmpdir=`/usr/bin/mktemp -d -t list_ids_in_pkg`
+    tmpdir=`/usr/bin/mktemp -d -t list_ids_in_pkg`
     trap "/bin/rm -rf '$tmpdir'" EXIT
 
     /usr/sbin/pkgutil --expand "$1" "$tmpdir/unpack"
 
-    /usr/bin/find "$tmpdir" -name PackageInfo -print0 |                                \
-    /usr/bin/xargs -0 /usr/bin/perl -0777 -ne                                          \
-      'while (m{<pkg-info.*?\sid(?:entifier)?\s*=\s*"([^"]*?)"}sg) { print "$1\n" }' | \
-    /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq |                                                    \
-    /usr/bin/egrep -v '^com\.apple\.' |                                                \
-    /usr/bin/egrep -v 'sparkle\.finish-installation$' |                                \
-    /usr/bin/perl -pe 's{\n}{\000}sg' |                                                \
-    /usr/bin/xargs -0 -I{} -n1 /bin/bash -c                                            \
-      'printf "{}"; /usr/sbin/pkgutil --pkg-info "{}" >/dev/null 2>&1 && printf " (+)"; printf "\n"'
+    {
+      # emit strings that look like bundle ids
+      bundle_id_source_1;
+    } |                     \
+    merge_sources |         \
+    clean_sources |         \
+    mark_up_sources
 
 }
 
+# process args
 if [[ $1 =~ ^-+h(elp)?$ || -z "$1" ]]; then
     printf "list_ids_in_pkg <file.pkg>
 
@@ -55,6 +93,7 @@ See CONTRIBUTING.md and 'man pkgutil' for more information.
     exit
 fi
 
-_list_ids_in_pkg "$@";
+# dispatch main
+_list_ids_in_pkg "${@}"
 
 #
diff --git a/developer/bin/list_loaded_kext_ids b/developer/bin/list_loaded_kext_ids
index 03a0041509..caca550368 100755
--- a/developer/bin/list_loaded_kext_ids
+++ b/developer/bin/list_loaded_kext_ids
@@ -3,14 +3,26 @@
 # list_loaded_kext_ids
 #
 
-set -e;               # exit on any uncaught error
-set +o histexpand;    # don't expand history expressions
-shopt -s nocasematch; # case-insensitive regular expressions
+###
+### settings
+###
+
+set -e               # exit on any uncaught error
+set +o histexpand    # don't expand history expressions
+shopt -s nocasematch # case-insensitive regular expressions
+
+###
+### main
+###
 
 _list_loaded_kext_ids () {
-    /usr/sbin/kextstat -kl | /usr/bin/cut -c53- | /usr/bin/cut -f1 -d' ' | /usr/bin/egrep -v '^com\.apple\.'
+    /usr/sbin/kextstat -kl |             \
+    /usr/bin/cut -c53- |                 \
+    /usr/bin/cut -f1 -d' ' |             \
+    /usr/bin/egrep -v '^com\.apple\.'
 }
 
+# process args
 if [[ $1 =~ ^-+h(elp)?$ ]]; then
     printf "list_loaded_kext_ids
 
@@ -27,6 +39,7 @@ See CONTRIBUTING.md for more information.
     exit
 fi
 
-_list_loaded_kext_ids "$@";
+# dispatch main
+_list_loaded_kext_ids "${@}"
 
 #
diff --git a/developer/bin/list_recent_pkg_ids b/developer/bin/list_recent_pkg_ids
index 3bf92ed376..e2c16af3a3 100755
--- a/developer/bin/list_recent_pkg_ids
+++ b/developer/bin/list_recent_pkg_ids
@@ -3,9 +3,17 @@
 # list_recent_pkg_ids
 #
 
-set -e;               # exit on any uncaught error
-set +o histexpand;    # don't expand history expressions
-shopt -s nocasematch; # case-insensitive regular expressions
+###
+### settings
+###
+
+set -e               # exit on any uncaught error
+set +o histexpand    # don't expand history expressions
+shopt -s nocasematch # case-insensitive regular expressions
+
+###
+### main
+###
 
 _list_recent_pkg_ids () {
     /bin/ls -t /var/db/receipts |                        \
@@ -15,6 +23,7 @@ _list_recent_pkg_ids () {
     /usr/bin/head -10
 }
 
+# process args
 if [[ $1 =~ ^-+h(elp)?$ ]]; then
     printf "list_recent_pkg_ids
 
@@ -31,6 +40,7 @@ See CONTRIBUTING.md for more information.
     exit
 fi
 
-_list_recent_pkg_ids "$@";
+# dispatch main
+_list_recent_pkg_ids "${@}"
 
 #
diff --git a/developer/bin/production_brew_cask b/developer/bin/production_brew_cask
index 416de5be16..e0c3fbebdd 100755
--- a/developer/bin/production_brew_cask
+++ b/developer/bin/production_brew_cask
@@ -3,17 +3,43 @@
 # production_brew_cask
 #
 
-set -e;               # exit on any uncaught error
-set +o histexpand;    # don't expand history expressions
-shopt -s nocasematch; # case-insensitive regular expressions
+###
+### settings
+###
+
+set -e               # exit on any uncaught error
+set +o histexpand    # don't expand history expressions
+shopt -s nocasematch # case-insensitive regular expressions
+
+###
+### configurable global variables
+###
+
+tap_subdir="Library/Taps/phinze-cask"
+
+###
+### functions
+###
+
+warn () {
+    local message="$@"
+    if ! [[ $message =~ "\n"$ ]]; then
+        message="${message}\n"
+    fi
+    printf "$message" 1>&2
+}
+
+die () {
+    warn "$@"
+    exit 1
+}
 
 cd_to_project_root () {
     local script_dir="$(/usr/bin/dirname $0)"
     cd "$script_dir"
     local git_root="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
     if [[ -z "$git_root" ]]; then
-        printf "Could not find git project root"
-        exit 1;
+        die "ERROR: Could not find git project root"
     fi
     cd "$git_root"
 }
@@ -22,12 +48,19 @@ cd_to_version_dir () {
     local cellar_dir="$1"
     local version_dir="$2"
     if [[ -z "$version_dir" ]]; then
-        printf "Can't get version dir under $cellar_dir/\n";
-        exit 1;
+        die "ERROR: Could not find version dir under $cellar_dir/"
     fi
     cd "$cellar_dir/$version_dir"
 }
 
+not_inside_homebrew () {
+    local tap_dir="$1"
+    local git_root="$2"
+    if [[ "$(/usr/bin/stat -L -f '%i' "$tap_dir")" -eq "$(/usr/bin/stat -L -f '%i' "$git_root")" ]]; then
+        die "\nERROR: Run this script in your private repo, not inside Homebrew.\n"
+    fi
+}
+
 remove_dev_links () {
     local tap_dir="$1"
     /bin/rm rubylib Casks
@@ -37,53 +70,54 @@ remove_dev_links () {
     /bin/rm lib Casks
     /bin/mv production_lib   lib
     /bin/mv production_Casks Casks
+    printf "brew-cask is now in production mode\n"
+    printf "It is safe to run 'brew update' if you are in production mode for all Caskroom repos.\n"
 }
 
+###
+### main
+###
+
 _production_brew_cask () {
 
-    # configurable
-    local tap_subdir="Library/Taps/phinze-cask"
-
     # initialization
-    cd_to_project_root;
-    local git_root="$(pwd)"
+    cd_to_project_root
+    local git_root="$(/bin/pwd)"
     local brew_prefix="$(brew --prefix)"
     local cellar_dir="$brew_prefix/Cellar/brew-cask"
     local version_dir="$(/bin/ls "$cellar_dir/" | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/tail -1)"
     local tap_dir="$brew_prefix/$tap_subdir"
 
     # sanity check
-    if [[ "$(/usr/bin/stat -L -f '%i' "$tap_dir")" -eq "$(/usr/bin/stat -L -f '%i' "$git_root")" ]]; then
-        printf "\nERROR: run this script in your private repo, not inside Homebrew.\n"
-        exit 1;
-    fi
+    not_inside_homebrew "$tap_dir" "$git_root"
 
     # action
-    cd_to_version_dir "$cellar_dir" "$version_dir";
+    cd_to_version_dir "$cellar_dir" "$version_dir"
     if [[ -e "production_rubylib" ]]; then
-        remove_dev_links "$tap_dir";
-        printf "brew-cask is now in production mode\n"
-        printf "It is safe to run 'brew update'\n"
+        remove_dev_links "$tap_dir"
     else
-        printf "brew-cask is already set up for production\n"
-        exit 1
+        die "brew-cask is already set up for production"
     fi
 
 }
 
+# process args
 if [[ $1 =~ ^-+h(elp)?$ ]]; then
     printf "production_brew_cask
 
-Undo all symlinks created by 'develop_brew_cask' so that
-the 'brew cask' command will use only released code within
-Homebrew.
+Undo all symlinks created by 'develop_brew_cask' so that the
+'brew cask' command will use only released code and Casks
+within Homebrew.
 
-After running this command it is safe to run 'brew update'.
+After running this command it is safe to run 'brew update',
+unless you are using similar scripts to create symlinks into
+other Caskroom development repos.
 
 "
     exit
 fi
 
-_production_brew_cask "$@";
+# dispatch main
+_production_brew_cask "${@}"
 
 #
diff --git a/developer/bin/project_stats b/developer/bin/project_stats
index 25dfe64c13..1c50c39d71 100755
--- a/developer/bin/project_stats
+++ b/developer/bin/project_stats
@@ -5,77 +5,96 @@
 # stats on project/release from git database
 #
 
-set -e;               # exit on any uncaught error
-set +o histexpand;    # don't expand history expressions
-shopt -s nocasematch; # case-insensitive regular expressions
+###
+### settings
+###
+
+set -e               # exit on any uncaught error
+set +o histexpand    # don't expand history expressions
+shopt -s nocasematch # case-insensitive regular expressions
+
+###
+### configurable global variables
+###
+
+# these paths relative to project root
+declare -a cask_paths=(Casks)
+declare -a code_paths=(bin developer lib test brew-cask.rb Rakefile Gemfile Gemfile.lock .travis.yml .gitignore)
+declare -a doc_paths=(doc LICENSE "*.md")
+end_object="HEAD"
+
+###
+### global variables
+###
+
+cask_authors=''
+
+###
+### functions
+###
+
+warn () {
+    local message="$@"
+    if ! [[ $message =~ "\n"$ ]]; then
+        message="${message}\n"
+    fi
+    printf "$message" 1>&2
+}
+
+die () {
+    warn "$@"
+    exit 1
+}
 
 cd_to_project_root () {
     local script_dir="$(/usr/bin/dirname $0)"
     cd "$script_dir"
     local git_root="$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)"
     if [[ -z "$git_root" ]]; then
-        printf "Could not find git project root"
-        exit 1;
+        die "ERROR: Could not find git project root"
     fi
     cd "$git_root"
 }
 
 warn_if_off_branch () {
-    local branch="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)"
     local wanted_branch='master'
     if [[ -n "$1" ]]; then
         wanted_branch="$1"
     fi
-    if [[ "$branch" != "$wanted_branch" ]]; then
-        printf "\nWARNING: you are running from branch '$branch', not '$wanted_branch'\n\n"
+
+    local current_branch="$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)"
+    if ! [[ "$current_branch" = "$wanted_branch" ]]; then
+        warn "\nWARNING: you are running from branch '$current_branch', not '$wanted_branch'\n\n"
     fi
 }
 
 verify_git_object () {
-    if ! git rev-parse --verify "$1" > /dev/null 2>/dev/null; then
-        printf "\nERROR: No such commit object: $1\n\n"
-        exit 1
+    local object="$1"
+
+    if ! git rev-parse --verify "$object" -- >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        die "\nERROR: No such commit object: '$object'\n\n"
     fi
 }
 
-_homebrew_cask_project_stats () {
-
-    local initial_commit="5a0d1d5556e3f963a0d34da46e16ecffa59ea2fc"
-    local start_object="$initial_commit"
-    local end_object="HEAD"
-
-    # these paths relative to project root
-    local cask_paths="Casks"
-    local code_paths="bin developer lib test brew-cask.rb Rakefile Gemfile Gemfile.lock"
-    local doc_paths="LICENSE *.md"
-
-    cd_to_project_root;
-    warn_if_off_branch 'master';
-
-    if [[ "$1" = 'release' ]]; then
-        start_object="$(git describe --tags --abbrev=0)"
-    elif [[ -n "$1" ]]; then
-        start_object="$1"
-    fi
-    verify_git_object "$start_object";
+print_contributor_stats () {
+    local start_object="$1"
+    local initial_commit="$2"
 
+    local git_log_cmd="git log --no-merges --format='%ae' ${start_object}..${end_object}"
     printf "Unique contributors"
-    if [[ "$start_object" != "$initial_commit" ]]; then
+    if ! [[ "$start_object" = "$initial_commit" ]]; then
         printf " since $start_object"
     fi
     printf "\n"
-
-    local git_log_cmd="git log --no-merges --format='%ae' ${start_object}..${end_object}"
-
-    local cask_authors="$($git_log_cmd -- $cask_paths | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
+    cask_authors="$($git_log_cmd -- "${cask_paths[@]}" | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
     printf "  Casks\t$cask_authors\n"
     printf "  code\t"
-    $git_log_cmd -- $code_paths | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l
+    $git_log_cmd -- "${code_paths[@]}" | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l
     printf "  docs\t"
-    $git_log_cmd -- $doc_paths  | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l
+    $git_log_cmd -- "${doc_paths[@]}"  | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l
     printf "  any\t"
-    $git_log_cmd -- .           | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l
-    if [[ "$start_object" != "$initial_commit" ]]; then
+    $git_log_cmd -- .                  | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l
+    if ! [[ "$start_object" = "$initial_commit" ]]; then
         local alltime_contribs="$(git log --no-merges --format='%ae' ${initial_commit}..${end_object} -- . | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
         local prior_contribs="$(git log --no-merges --format='%ae' ${initial_commit}..${start_object} -- . | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
         # arithmetic removes whitespace
@@ -84,13 +103,42 @@ _homebrew_cask_project_stats () {
         printf "\nAll-time contributors\t$alltime_contribs\n"
         printf "New contributors since $start_object\t$new_contribs\n"
     fi
-
     printf "\n"
+}
 
-    if [[ "$start_object" != "$initial_commit" ]]; then
-        local new_casks="$(git diff --name-status "$start_object" "$end_object" -- $cask_paths | /usr/bin/grep '^A.*\.rb' | cut -f2 | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
-        local deleted_casks="$(git diff --name-status "$start_object" "$end_object" -- $cask_paths | /usr/bin/grep '^D.*\.rb' | cut -f2 | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
-        local updated_casks="$(git diff --name-status "$start_object" "$end_object" -- $cask_paths | /usr/bin/grep '^M.*\.rb' | cut -f2 | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
+print_commit_stats () {
+    local start_object="$1"
+    local initial_commit="$2"
+
+    local git_log_cmd="git log --no-merges --format='%ae' ${start_object}..${end_object}"
+    printf "Commit count"
+    if ! [[ "$start_object" = "$initial_commit" ]]; then
+        printf " since $start_object"
+    fi
+    printf "\n"
+    printf "  Casks\t"
+    $git_log_cmd -- "${cask_paths[@]}" | /usr/bin/wc -l
+    printf "  code\t"
+    $git_log_cmd -- "${code_paths[@]}" | /usr/bin/wc -l
+    printf "  docs\t"
+    $git_log_cmd -- "${doc_paths[@]}"  | /usr/bin/wc -l
+    printf "  any\t"
+    $git_log_cmd -- .                  | /usr/bin/wc -l
+    if ! [[ "$start_object" = "$initial_commit" ]]; then
+        printf "\nAll-time commits\t"
+        git log --no-merges --format='%ae' "${initial_commit}".."${end_object}" -- . | /usr/bin/wc -l
+    fi
+    printf "\n"
+}
+
+print_cask_stats () {
+    local start_object="$1"
+    local initial_commit="$2"
+
+    if ! [[ "$start_object" = "$initial_commit" ]]; then
+        local     new_casks="$(git diff --name-status "$start_object" "$end_object" -- "${cask_paths[@]}" | /usr/bin/grep '^A.*\.rb' | cut -f2 | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
+        local deleted_casks="$(git diff --name-status "$start_object" "$end_object" -- "${cask_paths[@]}" | /usr/bin/grep '^D.*\.rb' | cut -f2 | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
+        local updated_casks="$(git diff --name-status "$start_object" "$end_object" -- "${cask_paths[@]}" | /usr/bin/grep '^M.*\.rb' | cut -f2 | /usr/bin/sort | /usr/bin/uniq | /usr/bin/wc -l)"
         # arithmetic removes whitespace
         ((cask_authors  += 0))
         ((deleted_casks += 0))
@@ -100,10 +148,36 @@ _homebrew_cask_project_stats () {
     fi
 
     printf "Total current Casks in HEAD\t"
-    /usr/bin/find $cask_paths -name '*.rb' | /usr/bin/wc -l
-
+    /usr/bin/find "${cask_paths[@]}" -name '*.rb' | /usr/bin/wc -l
 }
 
+###
+### main
+###
+
+_project_stats () {
+    local arg_object="$1"
+
+    cd_to_project_root
+    warn_if_off_branch 'master'
+
+    local initial_commit="$(git log --pretty=format:%H -- | /usr/bin/tail -1)"
+    verify_git_object "$initial_commit"
+    local start_object="$initial_commit"
+
+    if [[ "$arg_object" = 'release' ]]; then
+        start_object="$(./developer/bin/get_release_tag)"
+    elif [[ -n "$arg_object" ]]; then
+        start_object="$arg_object"
+    fi
+    verify_git_object "$start_object"
+
+    print_contributor_stats "$start_object" "$initial_commit"
+    print_commit_stats      "$start_object" "$initial_commit"
+    print_cask_stats        "$start_object" "$initial_commit"
+}
+
+# process args
 if [[ $1 =~ ^-+h(elp)?$ ]]; then
     printf "project_stats [ <commit-object> ]
 
@@ -119,6 +193,7 @@ Without argument, show statistics since first commit.
     exit
 fi
 
-_homebrew_cask_project_stats "$@";
+# dispatch main
+_project_stats "${@}"
 
 #