Boundary Review Prompts

Page Maps

graph LR
  family["Python Programming"]
  program["Python Meta-Programming"]
  section["Reference"]
  page["Boundary Review Prompts"]
  capstone["Capstone evidence"]

  family --> program --> section --> page
  page -.applies in.-> capstone

flowchart LR
  orient["Orient on the page map"] --> read["Read the main claim and examples"]
  read --> inspect["Inspect the related code, proof, or capstone surface"]
  inspect --> verify["Run or review the verification path"]
  verify --> apply["Apply the idea back to the module and capstone"]

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?

Power-ladder prompts

• What lower rung almost solved this problem?
• What new failure mode did the higher rung introduce?
• Would a reviewer still understand the behavior one file at a time?
• Is this mechanism still proportionate to the invariant it claims to own?