Design Tenets

Design Tenets

When choosing a feature or implementation, apply the following guidelines to determine its feasibility. These are listed in order of precedence. A feature

• ‼️ must be, or
• ✅ prefer to be

‼️ 1. Legal

• The GitHub Terms of Service shall not be validated.

‼️ 2. Secure

• The site owner's or readers' private information shall not be shared.
• The identity of each actor shall be authentic.
• Each actor shall have sole control over their contributions.

✅ 3. Robust

• The feature can gracefully handle mistakes and typo's made by the actors.
• The feature can help diagnose itself or its configuration.

✅ 4. Efficient

• The feature's processor utilization, memory allocation, usage of API resources shall be minimized.
• The feature's response time shall match similar pre-existing web sites or tools.

✅ 5. Delightful

• The impact to the site owner's normal work flow shall be minimized.
• The owner or reader is delighted by the feature's behavior or presentation.
• The owner or reader is not surprised or jarred by the feature's behavior or presentation.

✅ 5. Maintainable

• The feature's operation is easy to understand.
• The feature's implementation is self-describing.
• The feature is easy to debug.
• The feature is easy to extend.

Exceptions

Strategic trades are allowed between the preferred traits and are listed below with their justification. Exceptions are typically granted to improve developer or user experience.

1. none so far