In a Unix/Linux environment, the so-called “piping” of input/output is ... “the way that things get done in this here neck of the woods.”   Every command has one input stream (STDIN) and two output streams, and the entire system is geared around the notion of doing things by stringing the services of several simpler programs together.   The shell can do it.   Easy as fallin’ off a log...   All the IPC monkey-biz that needs to be done “just happens.”