Technical Excellence¶
Create solutions that are simple, maintainable, readable, and appropriate for the problem being solved.
Principles¶
- Simplicity Over Complexity — optimise for understanding, not cleverness
- Build for today's requirements — avoid speculative architecture
- Optimise for maintainability — every system should be understandable by someone joining tomorrow
- Manage technical debt intentionally — visible, documented, deliberately accepted
Coding Standards¶
Consistency and readability matter more than personal preference.
- Consistent style across the codebase
- Meaningful, descriptive naming
- Small, focused functions with clear purpose
- Minimal duplication
- Clear abstraction boundaries
See → Python Standards, SQL Standards
Code Reviews¶
Reviews exist for knowledge sharing, risk reduction, and consistency — not gatekeeping.
- Keep PRs small and focused
- Review intent before implementation
- Focus areas: correctness, readability, security, performance, testability
See → Pull Request Guidelines
Definition of Done¶
Work is complete only when:
- Code is merged
- Tests pass
- Documentation is updated
- Monitoring is in place
- Security checks pass
- Acceptance criteria are met
See → Definition of Done
Strong Signals¶
- Clear architecture with consistent patterns
- Low complexity, high readability
- Minimal duplication
- Good abstraction boundaries
Weak Signals¶
- Overengineering or excessive abstraction
- Hidden dependencies
- Large, fragile components
- Clever but hard-to-understand solutions