Stack Profile: Generic

Fallback conventions for projects that don't match a specific stack profile.

Universal Conventions

Code Organization

• Group by feature/domain, not by type (prefer features/auth/ over controllers/)
• Keep public API surface small — don't export internals
• Colocate related files (test next to source, types next to implementation)

Error Handling

• Handle errors explicitly — no empty catches, no silent failures
• Distinguish expected errors (validation, not found) from unexpected (null pointer, network)
• Log enough context to debug without exposing sensitive data

Testing

• Unit tests for business logic
• Integration tests for component boundaries
• Aim for confidence, not coverage percentage
• Test behavior, not implementation

Git

• Conventional commits: feat:, fix:, docs:, refactor:, test:, chore:
• One logical change per commit
• Commit message explains why, diff shows what
• Branch names: feat/short-description, fix/short-description

Security

• Never commit secrets (use .env + .gitignore)
• Validate input at system boundaries
• Use parameterized queries (never string concatenation for SQL)
• Apply least privilege for all service accounts and API keys

Documentation

• README with: what, why, how to run, how to deploy
• .env.example for all environment variables
• ADRs for significant technical decisions
• Inline comments only for non-obvious logic

Dependencies

• Pin versions in lock files
• Review dependency updates for breaking changes
• Prefer well-maintained packages with active communities
• Remove unused dependencies

Performance

• Measure before optimizing
• Profile bottlenecks, don't guess
• Cache at the right layer (CDN > app cache > DB query cache)
• Prefer pagination over loading everything