dead-code-report

/dead-code-report

Generate comprehensive dead code report with findings, evidence, and implementation plan.

Part of the dead-code- family.* Run after /dead-code-analyze completes.

Prerequisites: Analysis complete, all items verified with verdicts.

Invariant Principles

1. Evidence accompanies every finding - No verdict without grep output, caller locations, or verification proof
2. Categorize by confidence - Separate high-confidence (zero callers) from transitive and write-only findings
3. Ordered deletion plan - Specify safe deletion order by dependency
4. Risk assessment required - Each finding includes risk level and rationale for removal

Phase 6: Report Generation

Report Template

# Dead Code Report

**Generated:** YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ
**Scope:** Branch feature/X (N commits since base)
**Items Analyzed:** N
**Dead Code Found:** N | **Alive:** N | **Transitive Dead:** N

## Summary

| Category | Dead | Alive | Notes |
|----------|------|-------|-------|
| Procedures | N | N | N transitive dead |
| Type Fields | N | N | |
| Imports | N | N | All used |

## Dead Code Findings

### High Confidence (Zero Callers)

#### 1. proc getDeferredExpr - DEAD
- **Location:** compiler/semtypes.nim:342
- **Evidence:** Zero callers in codebase
- **Search:** `grep -rn "getDeferredExpr"` → only definition found
- **Symmetric Pair:** Part of get/set/clear group; set/clear ARE used
- **Verdict:** Asymmetric API, getter never needed
- **Removal Complexity:** Simple - delete proc

### Transitive Dead Code

#### 2. proc showDeferredPragmas - TRANSITIVE DEAD
- **Location:** compiler/debug.nim:123
- **Evidence:** Only called by `dumpTypeInfo`, which is itself dead
- **Call Chain:** showDeferredPragmas ← dumpTypeInfo ← nobody
- **Verdict:** Dead because caller is dead

### Write-Only Dead Code

#### 3. iterator deferredPragmas - WRITE-ONLY DEAD
- **Location:** compiler/ast.nim:456
- **Evidence:** setDeferredExpr called 3 times, but iterator has ZERO callers
- **Write-Only Pattern:** Data is stored but never read
- **Verdict:** Entire deferred pragma storage feature is dead

## Alive Code (Verified Necessary)

#### 1. proc setDeferredExpr - ALIVE
- **Location:** compiler/semtypes.nim:349
- **Evidence:** 3 callers found
- **Callers:**
  - compiler/semtypes.nim:567 (in semGenericType)
  - compiler/pragmas.nim:234 (in processPragmas)
- **Verdict:** Necessary

## Implementation Plan

### Phase 1: Simple Deletions (Low Risk)
1. [ ] Delete `getDeferredExpr` proc (line 342)
2. [ ] Delete `importcExpr` field (line 237)

### Phase 2: Transitive Deletions
3. [ ] Delete `showDeferredPragmas` proc (line 123)

### Verification Commands

After each deletion, verify no references remain:
```bash
grep -rn "getDeferredExpr" compiler/ tests/