code-optimization

Code Optimization

Purpose: Turn correct-but-verbose code into the smallest, clearest correct version -- lower cyclomatic complexity, fewer branches, no dead weight, no abstractions that earn nothing. Scope: Behavior-preserving rewrites of a function, file, or small module.

HARD RULE: Minimal is a means, not the goal. The goal is the simplest code that is still correct, safe, and readable. Line count is a signal, never a target. NEVER trade away correctness, boundary validation, tests, public API shape, or human readability to win lines. If a rewrite makes the code shorter but harder to read or less safe, it is a regression, not an optimization.

When to Use

• A function or file is verbose, over-nested, or over-abstracted and you want it tighter
• The user asks to "compress", "minimize", "simplify", "make elegant", or "reduce LOC"
• Post-implementation pass to remove accidental complexity before review
• A single-use interface, wrapper, or config object is adding indirection with no payoff

When NOT to Use

• The code is already minimal and clear -- stop; do not code-golf for its own sake
• Correctness or behavior is in doubt -- fix and test first, optimize second
• Hot-path performance tuning -- use Performance; fewer lines != faster
• Public API or library surface others depend on -- shrinking the surface is a breaking change, not an optimization

Where This Fits Among Sibling Skills