clean-code

Check each change against the core principles: intention-revealing names, small single-purpose functions, minimal arguments, no side effects, exceptions instead of return codes, and F.I.R.S.T. unit tests. The Skill provides a checklist covering each of these areas.

Functions should be small, do exactly one thing, operate at a single level of abstraction, and take zero to two arguments. They should have descriptive verb-based names and must not produce hidden side effects on global state.

Use them when code shows smells like rigidity, fragility, immobility, or needless repetition. The Skill helps identify these smells and guides incremental refactoring toward smaller functions, better names, and proper error handling.

Clean Code treats most comments as a failure to express intent in code and recommends rewriting unclear code instead. Acceptable comments include legal notices, clarification of external library behavior, regex intent explanations, and TODOs.

The guidelines are general heuristics, not environment-specific rules, so output still requires validation, testing, and expert review. They should only be applied when the task clearly matches writing, reviewing, or refactoring code.