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Boundary Review Prompts

Reference Position

flowchart TD
  family["Python Programming"] --> program["Python Metaprogramming"]
  program --> reference["Boundary Review Prompts"]
  reference --> review["Design or review decision"]
  review --> capstone["Capstone proof surface"]
flowchart TD
  trigger["Hit a naming, boundary, or trade-off question"] --> lookup["Use this page as a glossary, map, rubric, or atlas"]
  lookup --> compare["Compare the current work against the boundary"]
  compare --> decision["Turn the comparison into a keep, change, or reject call"]

Read the first diagram as a lookup map: this page is part of the review shelf, not a first-read narrative. Read the second diagram as the reference rhythm: arrive with a concrete ambiguity, compare the current work against the boundary on the page, then turn that comparison into a decision.

Use these prompts when the code technically works but you still need to decide whether the mechanism lives on the right boundary.

Observation boundary

  • Could this be solved with inspection instead of behavior-changing hooks?
  • Does the chosen approach let a reviewer inspect the runtime shape without execution?
  • What evidence is available from the public surface before opening internals?

Wrapper boundary

  • Is this still one callable transformation, or has it become a policy engine?
  • Which callable facts must remain visible after wrapping?
  • What would become clearer if this behavior moved into an explicit object?

Attribute boundary

  • Does the rule truly belong to attribute access?
  • Would a plain method or property explain the behavior more honestly?
  • Where does per-instance state live, and can one instance interfere with another?

Class-creation boundary

  • What specifically must happen before the class exists?
  • Could a class decorator or explicit registration step own this instead?
  • Is the class-definition work deterministic and resettable in tests?

Governance boundary

  • Is this mechanism easier to debug than the boring alternative, or harder?
  • Would you trust this hook in ordinary application code, or only in tooling?
  • What rollback path exists if the dynamic behavior causes trouble under real use?