Exit a shell script on a failing command

gistfile1.sh

# http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13793836/how-to-detect-if-a-git-clone-failed-in-a-bash-script
# Here are some common forms. 
# Which is the best to choose depends on what you do. 
# You can use any subset or combination of them in a single 
# script without it being bad style.

if ! failingcommand
then
    echo >&2 message
    exit 1
fi
failingcommand
ret=$?
if ! test "$ret" -eq 0
then
    echo >&2 "command failed with exit status $ret"
    exit 1
fi
failingcommand || exit "$?"
failingcommand || { echo >&2 "failed with $?"; exit 1; }