takt/builtins/en/stances/coding.md

Coding Stance

Prioritize correctness over speed, and code accuracy over ease of implementation.

Principles

Principle	Criteria
Simple > Easy	Prioritize readability over writability
DRY	Extract after 3 repetitions
Comments	Why only. Never write What/How
Function size	One function, one responsibility. ~30 lines
File size	~300 lines as a guideline. Be flexible depending on the task
Boy Scout	Leave touched areas a little better than you found them
Fail Fast	Detect errors early. Never swallow them

No Fallbacks or Default Arguments

Do not write code that obscures the flow of values. Code where you must trace logic to understand a value is bad code.

Prohibited Patterns

Pattern	Example	Problem
Fallback for required data	user?.id ?? 'unknown'	Processing continues in a state that should error
Default argument abuse	function f(x = 'default') where all call sites omit it	Impossible to tell where the value comes from
Null coalesce with no way to pass	options?.cwd ?? process.cwd() with no path from callers	Always falls back (meaningless)
Return empty value in try-catch	catch { return ''; }	Swallows the error
Silent skip on inconsistent values	if (a !== expected) return undefined	Config errors silently ignored at runtime

Correct Implementation

// ❌ Prohibited - Fallback for required data
const userId = user?.id ?? 'unknown'
processUser(userId)  // Processing continues with 'unknown'

// ✅ Correct - Fail Fast
if (!user?.id) {
  throw new Error('User ID is required')
}
processUser(user.id)

// ❌ Prohibited - Default argument where all call sites omit
function loadConfig(path = './config.json') { ... }
// All call sites: loadConfig()  ← path is never passed

// ✅ Correct - Make it required and pass explicitly
function loadConfig(path: string) { ... }
// Call site: loadConfig('./config.json')  ← explicit

// ❌ Prohibited - Null coalesce with no way to pass
class Engine {
  constructor(config, options?) {
    this.cwd = options?.cwd ?? process.cwd()
    // Problem: if there's no path to pass cwd via options, it always falls back to process.cwd()
  }
}

// ✅ Correct - Allow passing from the caller
function createEngine(config, cwd: string) {
  return new Engine(config, { cwd })
}

Acceptable Cases

• Default values when validating external input (user input, API responses)
• Optional values in config files (explicitly designed to be omittable)
• Only some call sites use the default argument (prohibited if all callers omit it)

Decision Criteria

1. Is it required data? → Throw an error, do not fall back
2. Do all call sites omit it? → Remove the default, make it required
3. Is there a path to pass the value from above? → If not, add a parameter or field
4. Do related values have invariants? → Cross-validate at load/setup time

Abstraction

Think Before Adding Conditionals

• Does the same condition exist elsewhere? → Abstract with a pattern
• Will more branches be added? → Use Strategy/Map pattern
• Branching on type? → Replace with polymorphism

// ❌ Growing conditionals
if (type === 'A') { ... }
else if (type === 'B') { ... }
else if (type === 'C') { ... }  // Yet another branch

// ✅ Abstract with a Map
const handlers = { A: handleA, B: handleB, C: handleC };
handlers[type]?.();

Keep Abstraction Levels Consistent

Within a single function, keep operations at the same granularity. Extract detailed operations into separate functions. Do not mix "what to do" with "how to do it."

// ❌ Mixed abstraction levels
function processOrder(order) {
  validateOrder(order);           // High level
  const conn = pool.getConnection(); // Low-level detail
  conn.query('INSERT...');        // Low-level detail
}

// ✅ Consistent abstraction levels
function processOrder(order) {
  validateOrder(order);
  saveOrder(order);  // Details are hidden
}

Follow Language and Framework Conventions

• Write Pythonic Python, idiomatic Kotlin, etc.
• Use framework-recommended patterns
• Prefer standard approaches over custom ones
• When unsure, research. Do not implement based on guesses

Interface Design

Design interfaces from the consumer's perspective. Do not expose internal implementation details.

Principle	Criteria
Consumer perspective	Do not force things the caller does not need
Separate configuration from execution	Decide "what to use" at setup time, keep the execution API simple
No method proliferation	Absorb differences through configuration, not multiple methods doing the same thing

// ❌ Method proliferation — pushing configuration differences onto the caller
interface NotificationService {
  sendEmail(to, subject, body)
  sendSMS(to, message)
  sendPush(to, title, body)
  sendSlack(channel, message)
}

// ✅ Separate configuration from execution
interface NotificationService {
  setup(config: ChannelConfig): Channel
}
interface Channel {
  send(message: Message): Promise<Result>
}

Leaky Abstraction

If a specific implementation appears in a generic layer, the abstraction is leaking. The generic layer should only know interfaces; branching should be absorbed by implementations.

// ❌ Specific implementation imports and branching in generic layer
import { uploadToS3 } from '../aws/s3.js'
if (config.storage === 's3') {
  return uploadToS3(config.bucket, file, options)
}

// ✅ Generic layer uses interface only. Unsupported cases error at creation time
const storage = createStorage(config)
return storage.upload(file, options)

Structure

Criteria for Splitting

• Has its own state → Separate
• UI/logic exceeding 50 lines → Separate
• Has multiple responsibilities → Separate

Dependency Direction

• Upper layers → Lower layers (reverse direction prohibited)
• Fetch data at the root (View/Controller) and pass it down
• Children do not know about their parents

State Management

• Confine state to where it is used
• Children do not modify state directly (notify parents via events)
• State flow is unidirectional

Error Handling

Centralize error handling. Do not scatter try-catch everywhere.

// ❌ Scattered try-catch
async function createUser(data) {
  try {
    const user = await userService.create(data)
    return user
  } catch (e) {
    console.error(e)
    throw new Error('Failed to create user')
  }
}

// ✅ Centralized handling at the upper layer
// Catch collectively at the Controller/Handler layer
// Or handle via @ControllerAdvice / ErrorBoundary
async function createUser(data) {
  return await userService.create(data)  // Let exceptions propagate up
}

Error Handling Placement

Layer	Responsibility
Domain/Service layer	Throw exceptions on business rule violations
Controller/Handler layer	Catch exceptions and convert to responses
Global handler	Handle common exceptions (NotFound, auth errors, etc.)

Conversion Placement

Place conversion methods on the DTO side.

// ✅ Conversion methods on Request/Response DTOs
interface CreateUserRequest {
  name: string
  email: string
}

function toUseCaseInput(req: CreateUserRequest): CreateUserInput {
  return { name: req.name, email: req.email }
}

// Controller
const input = toUseCaseInput(request)
const output = await useCase.execute(input)
return UserResponse.from(output)

Conversion direction:

Request → toInput() → UseCase/Service → Output → Response.from()

Shared Code Decisions

Rule of Three

• 1st occurrence: Write it inline
• 2nd occurrence: Do not extract yet (observe)
• 3rd occurrence: Consider extracting

Should Be Shared

• Same logic in 3+ places
• Same style/UI pattern
• Same validation logic
• Same formatting logic

Should Not Be Shared

• Similar but subtly different (forced generalization adds complexity)
• Used in only 1-2 places
• Based on "might need it in the future" predictions

// ❌ Over-generalization
function formatValue(value, type, options) {
  if (type === 'currency') { ... }
  else if (type === 'date') { ... }
  else if (type === 'percentage') { ... }
}

// ✅ Separate functions by purpose
function formatCurrency(amount: number): string { ... }
function formatDate(date: Date): string { ... }
function formatPercentage(value: number): string { ... }

Prohibited

• Fallbacks are prohibited by default - Do not write fallbacks using ?? 'unknown', || 'default', or swallowing via try-catch. Propagate errors upward. If absolutely necessary, add a comment explaining why
• Explanatory comments - Express intent through code. Do not write What/How comments
• Unused code - Do not write "just in case" code
• any type - Do not break type safety
• Direct mutation of objects/arrays - Create new instances with spread operators
• console.log - Do not leave in production code
• Hardcoded secrets
• Scattered try-catch - Centralize error handling at the upper layer
• Unsolicited backward compatibility / legacy support - Not needed unless explicitly instructed
• Workarounds that bypass safety mechanisms - If the root fix is correct, no additional bypass is needed