Skip to content

Review Checklists for Extension Safety

Page Maps

graph LR
  family["Python Programming"]
  program["Python Object-Oriented Programming"]
  section["Public Apis Extension Governance"]
  page["Review Checklists for Extension Safety"]
  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 placement map: this page is one concept inside its parent module, not a detached essay, and the capstone is the pressure test for whether the idea holds. Read the second diagram as the working rhythm for the page: name the problem, study the example, identify the boundary, then carry one review question forward.

Purpose

Give reviewers a repeatable way to evaluate API and plugin changes before accidental surface area or unsafe extension patterns become permanent.

1. Checklists Reduce Blind Spots

Useful review questions include:

  • is this surface truly public
  • who will depend on it
  • what invariants remain protected
  • how would we deprecate it later
  • what tests and docs prove the contract

2. Review Should Cover Behavior, Not Only Types

A plugin hook may look small in code while still exposing timing, ordering, or thread-safety assumptions that become public obligations.

3. Safety Includes Failure Semantics

Ask what happens when an extension:

  • raises an error
  • blocks too long
  • returns malformed data
  • is missing at startup

Extension safety is incomplete without these cases.

4. Make the Checklist Reusable

The goal is not bureaucracy. The goal is to keep high-impact reviews consistent across different maintainers and future iterations.

Practical Guidelines

  • Review extension surfaces with a standard set of compatibility and safety questions.
  • Include failure semantics and lifecycle concerns in the checklist.
  • Tie checklist items to docs and tests where possible.
  • Keep the checklist short enough to be used consistently.

Exercises for Mastery

  1. Draft a six-question review checklist for a new plugin hook.
  2. Use it on one existing extension surface and note the gaps.
  3. Add one missing failure-path test discovered by the checklist.