fejkdata/docs/comprehension-history.md

Comprehension history

2026-10-09T08:59:19Z, PR #190 at 17f732a, against ee4b40b

Ruling: better

Seat	Vote
Mid A	better
Inherited architect	better

Mid A, decided by:

• pick.go:9 pickKey: the definition sits on the type, beside levelKeys, addressedKeys, keptInPick and readUnder, where four files held them
• render.go:155 readField: one named predicate, keptInPick, states the whole keep rule
• datatype.go:217 columnRead: beside the code that reads it

Inherited architect, decided by:

• pick.go:9 pickKey: the 3am path for a named pick now ends in one file, with its worked example
• render.go:155 readField: keptInPick holds its own nil and reference checks
• path.go:72 compiledPath: the field no longer reuses the vocabulary word level

2026-10-09T09:24:31Z, PR #190 at 65a32db, against ee4b40b

Ruling: better

Seat	Vote
Mid A	better
Inherited architect	better

Mid A, decided by:

• pick.go:9 pickKey: the definitions sit on the type, beside the functions that build and read the keys
• datatype.go:217 columnRead: beside itemDatatype and checkColumns, which consume it
• node.go:70 template.readsColumn: names the four readers that change together

Inherited architect, decided by:

• pick.go:9 pickKey: a pick-key bug needs one file, where it needed four and the vocabulary
• render.go:155 readField: one named predicate, keptInPick, states the keep rule
• path.go:72 compiledPath: headSpans is the costliest new read in the diff

2026-10-09T09:30:15Z, PR #190 at d9f0fc9, against ee4b40b

Ruling: better

Seat	Vote
Mid A	better
Inherited architect	better

Mid A, decided by:

• pick.go:9 pickKey: the definitions and the code building and reading the keys share one file
• render.go:155 readField: keptInPick holds the whole keep rule and its own nil check
• path.go:74 compiledPath: headSpans and the bare 0 its callers pass cost a second read

Inherited architect, decided by:

• pick.go:9 pickKey: the 3am mechanism reads in one file, in reading order
• datatype.go:217 columnRead: beside its consumers, and node.go:70 names its four readers
• path.go:119 compileStep: six parameters, the one place that reads harder

2026-10-09T10:16:38Z, PR #193 at c27e8b7, against d74c0ed

Ruling: better

Seat	Vote
Mid A	better
Inherited architect	better

Mid A, decided by:

• data-import/geo.py:75 fence: one named step states the locality row and drops childless parents level by level, where with_streets pruned localities alone
• data-import/geo-us.py:174 main: the county and region pruning no longer hides inside the tsv.write comprehensions
• data-import/geo-se.py:186 main: builds its rows before the fence, so it has the US script's shape

Inherited architect, decided by:

• data-import/geo.py:75 fence: the loader's parent-has-a-child rule is named in the import code and applied in one place at all three levels
• data-import/geo-us.py:174 main: one fence call before any write replaces filters buried in the writes
• data-import/geo-se.py:186 main: both scripts read alike, build rows, fence, write

2026-10-09T10:29:19Z, PR #193 at 8433689, against d74c0ed

Ruling: better

Seat	Vote
Mid A	better
Inherited architect	better

Mid A, decided by:

• data-import/geo.py:75 fence: the parent-has-a-child rule lives in one function whose docstring states the rule, each argument's shape and what it returns
• data-import/geo-us.py:174 main: zctas is built once and fenced, and every write reads from kept with no filter of its own
• data-import/geo-us.py:128 zcta_localities: the name says it returns a ZCTA-to-place map, where postal_codes pointed at the wrong output

Inherited architect, decided by:

• data-import/geo.py:75 fence: one unit owns the chain from locality to municipality to region, where the base spread it over with_streets and both mains
• data-import/geo-us.py:128 zcta_localities: the name and docstring say what it maps to
• data-import/geo-se.py:181 main: region_names and municipality_names say they map codes to names, and the rows are built once before the fence

2026-10-07, scoring run at ad59967

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mean	7.00	5.88	6.50	6.13	6.38

2026-10-09T11:04:29Z, PR #195 at b9d1af6

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Junior A	7.5	6.5	7	7	7
Mid A	7.5	6	6.5	7	6.5
Maintainability senior	7.5	6	6.5	6.5	6.5
Inherited architect	7	5.5	6	7	6.5
Mean	7.38	6.00	6.50	6.88	6.63

Junior A, hardest first:

• pick.go:70 keptInPick: a level, a first-level key, that key moved under env.pickAt, and the name's addressed set, held at once
• namefence.go:76 refuseTwiceDrawnIn: mirrors the keep rule in keptInPick, and nothing ties the two in code

Mid A, hardest first:

• pick.go:79 readUnder: a key built at load in addressedKeys must equal one built at render through pickKey.under, and a mismatch is silent
• node.go:70 readsColumn: four functions in three files must change together

Maintainability senior, hardest first:

• render.go:146 readField: whether a read is kept in a pick rests on string keys from three places and on env.pick cleared at the right moment
• path.go:190 drawSteps: a nil pins or memo names the mode, and climbed carries state across iterations

Inherited architect, would restructure first:

• pick.go:179 readName: keeping one named pick needs name.go, pick.go, env.go, render.go, path.go and record.go held at once
• node.go:52 template: filled in four phases by four functions

2026-10-09T11:09:34Z, PR #195 at 344023d, against 1c342bc

Ruling: better

Seat	Vote
Mid A	better
Inherited architect	better

Mid A, decided by:

• shipped.go:61 loadCallerPath: Fake and FakeRecord get their segments from the one call that loads them, where each repeated the split and the load
• node.go:30 choice: the shared comment says what the field counts, where it claimed List reads it
• data-import/tsv.py:7 write: its check and message match the loader's one-row rule

Inherited architect, decided by:

• shipped.go:61 loadCallerPath: the load-before-walk order is held by data flow, where a comment on loadShippedAt stated it
• node.go:30 choice: the shared comment no longer sends a --list bug to the wrong field
• README.md:163 ## Data: the opening names the geo trees the section documents

2026-10-09T16:48:45Z, PR #201 at c3ef728, against 2652779

Ruling: same

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	same	same	same	same
Inherited architect	same	same	same	same	same

2026-10-09T16:54:01Z, PR #201 at 8b5a972, against 2652779

Ruling: same

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	same	same	same	same
Inherited architect	same	same	same	same	same

2026-10-09T17:21:57Z, PR #202 at 65b2de8, against 2652779

Ruling: worse

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	worse	same	same	worse
Inherited architect	same	worse	worse	worse	worse

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: data.go:13 loadSources: one pass mixes lazy and eager loading through before/after snapshots, a provides closure and a reverse graph search, and the skip of the first source is unexplained
• Locality: data.go:107 mergeFolder: a category must sit in one of two maps, children or unloaded, kept by deletes in four functions across two files
• Locality: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:83 embeddedManifests: a process-wide cache in a package that was otherwise pure

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Locality, Self-sufficiency: data.go:13 loadSources: nothing says why replaced paths drag their readers in, or what the !after[p] case covers
• Locality: index.go:113 loadReached: its rollback claims the next call fails the same way, which holds only while no parent table was linked to a rolled-back child
• Shape: index.go:159 reaching: four near-synonyms, reaching, reachedFrom, loadReached and referenced, and referenced and categoryUnder return loaded categories too
• Shape: data.go:40 place: shares its name with compileInto's parameter, and returns a closure answering one question two ways
• Locality: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:83 embeddedManifests: hidden global state for a small saving

2026-10-09T17:32:44Z, PR #202 at fdc6a04, against 2652779

Ruling: worse

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	worse	same	same	worse
Inherited architect	same	worse	worse	worse	worse

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: index.go:175 loadReached: one loop loads, puts back on failure, checks each entry before linking and again after the pipeline, and its rollback rests on an ordering invariant its comment argues
• Locality: data.go:13 loadSources: whether a category loads in New means holding every source and every index entry together, through standing snapshots and dependents
• Shape: index.go:36 categoryAt: a near-synonym of categorySite, beside dependencies and dependents, which differ by two letters and run in opposite directions

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: index.go:175 loadReached: five jobs in one queue loop, with a cross-call ordering invariant to hold
• Locality, Shape: data.go:13 loadSources: one source can make another load early through identity-compared snapshots and a reverse graph over index entries
• Shape: index.go:36 categoryAt: two near-synonym types for where a category sits, and three near-identical function names
• Self-sufficiency: index.go:248 staleEntry: its note on linking cannot be read without knowing the pipeline, and config.load points at a paragraph-long decision anchor

2026-10-09T17:39:40Z, PR #202 at 0bdb100, against 2652779

Ruling: worse

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	worse	worse	same	worse
Inherited architect	same	worse	worse	same	worse

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: data.go:13 loadSources: whether an indexed category loads in New depends on source order and what other sources hold, through before-and-after snapshots
• Locality: index.go:119 affectedBy: trusts the manifest's reads to match the templates, with nothing beside the code checking it
• Locality, Shape: index.go:174 loadReached: a rollback batch to reason about, with names that say less than unloadedReads and linkedTables did
• Shape: index.go:16 ErrLoad: a public error every entry point depends on, in a file named for the index
• Shape: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:103 decodeManifest: a hand-written strict decoder doubles the package's responsibilities

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: data.go:13 loadSources: New's load set follows dependencies forward from templates and backward from the manifest's reads, and a stale reads leaves a broken reader for its first reach
• Locality: index.go:201 batch.load: the unloaded entry is deleted three calls away, and putBack reverses it
• Locality, Shape: data.go:62 standing: a map[string]any of nodes and entries compared by identity
• Shape: index.go:1 index.go: fifteen units under generic names in a file named for the index, ErrLoad among them
• Shape: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:103 decodeManifest: a strict JSON decoder shares the tree walker's file with no seam

2026-10-10T09:09:41Z, PR #202 at d34cc42, against 2652779

Ruling: better

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	better	better	same	better
Inherited architect	same	better	same	same	better

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: data.go:12 loadSources: one path, each source indexed or walked then one loadReached, where config.load switched between a lazy and an eager mode
• Locality: index.go:107 loadReached: a failed load puts back what it loaded and returns an error, where loadShipped panicked partway through
• Locality, Shape: node.go:31 folder.put: two methods keep a name in children or unloaded, never both
• Shape: index.go:29 categoryAt: shipped.go is only the embed, and categorySite embeds categoryAt in place of a duplicated unloadedCategory

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Locality: data.go:12 loadSources: one load path, where config.load hid a mode switch between lazy and eager loading
• Locality: index.go:107 loadReached: returns a load error, and names a manifest entry drifted from its table, where loadShipped panicked on a hand-regenerated Go file
• Locality: node.go:23 folder: the children-or-unloaded rule stated once and kept by two methods

2026-10-10T09:21:22Z, PR #202 at b77ec94, against 2652779

Ruling: better

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	better	same	same	better
Inherited architect	same	worse	same	same	worse
Maintainability senior	same	better	same	better	better
Junior A	same	better	better	same	better

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: node.go:31 folder.put: two methods keep a name in children or unloaded, where unloadedCategory.load kept it by a separate delete
• Locality, Overall: data.go:22 addSource: each source's own manifest decides how it loads, where adding any data path switched the whole shipped set to eager loading

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: index.go:109 loadReached: one function serves New and first reach, rolls back through putBack, and rests on facts held elsewhere
• Locality: index.go:22 placeIndex: how sources merge depends on their order and on which kind each is, and the children-or-unloaded rule holds only while put is the one writer

Maintainability senior, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: data.go:12 loadSources: every source goes through one path, where config.load branched between two load paths of different eagerness
• Locality: index.go:15 indexed: an unloaded entry carries its own source, where unloadedCategory.load was wired to the global shippedSource
• Self-sufficiency, Overall: internal/datafiles/manifest.go:56 decodeManifest: the index is data checked strictly, where shippedEntry told the reader to empty a generated literal by hand

Junior A, decided by:

• Locality, Shape: node.go:23 folder: put and putUnloaded keep a name in one map, where compileInto and unloadedCategory.load kept it as a pair
• Locality, Shape: data.go:12 loadSources: one load path, where config.load forked and loadShipped was a second, panic-only pipeline
• Shape: data.go:81 categorySite: embeds categoryAt, where unloadedCategory repeated its fields

2026-10-10T11:11:16Z, PR #203 at 421bb49, against bf1becb

Ruling: worse

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	worse	worse	same	worse
Inherited architect	same	worse	worse	same	worse

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: node.go:28 folder.reads: a third per-name map beside children and unloaded with no invariant tying it to them; every placement site must remember a separate setReads call (data.go:36 addSource, data.go:76 mergeFolder, index.go:27 placeIndex)
• Locality, Shape: resolve.go:96 withReads: the manifest's reads travels through folder, categorySite.reads and templateSite.category to feed one error clause, four files to hold for one sentence of error text
• Shape: internal/datafiles/manifest.go:22 Manifest.Reads: reads as a load dependency the loader acts on, though it only feeds error text, and "reads" already means a template reading a name or column
• Shape: data/geo/SE/fs.go:2 SE: package names SE, US, en_US, sv_SE; in Modules SE.FS sits beside sv_SE.FS with nothing saying which is geography
• Locality: fejkdata.go:94 New: loads exactly what the options name, easier than the hidden config{shipped: true} default, though config.given brings back a smaller flag

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Locality, Shape, Overall: node.go:27 folder.reads: a third per-name map that put and putUnloaded leave alone, so addSource, mergeFolder and placeIndex must each call setReads, and batch.load relies on placeIndex having done it; action at a distance for one error suffix
• Locality: resolve.go:94 templateSite.withReads: reads travels folder, categorySite.reads, a *categorySite per template, then withReads, four hops across three files
• Shape: data/geo/SE/fs.go:2 SE: bare package names SE and US do not say geography at WithDataFS(sv_SE.FS, SE.FS); the namespace-doubling rule lives only in README and test code
• Shape, Self-sufficiency: internal/datafiles/manifest.go:22 Manifest.Reads: suggests it drives loading though it only feeds withReads; "by default" needs README goal 9.2
• Locality, Navigation: data/modules.go:17 Modules: the hidden shippedFS default is gone; Modules lists the modules, errNoData names the fix, and the CLI loads data.Modules() in plain sight
• Locality: fejkdata.go:40 config.given: WithDataFS() with no arguments differs from no option, learnt only from its comment

2026-10-10T11:24:33Z, PR #203 at 70e552c, against bf1becb

Ruling: same

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	better	worse	same	same
Inherited architect	worse	worse	better	same	worse
Maintainability senior	worse	same	worse	same	worse
Junior A	same	worse	same	same	same

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality: fejkdata.go:94 New: loads only the modules its options name or fails with errNoData; the base silently added the embedded shippedSource in config.load
• Shape: internal/datafiles/manifest.go:23 Manifest.Reads: Reads and categorySite.defaultModules suggest a loaded dependency, though only a hint reads them, and "by default" is never set against anything
• Locality, Shape: data.go:12 loadSources: default modules reach a category by two routes, the walked map and indexed.defaultModules, and templateSite gains a pointer only to carry them
• Shape: data/modules.go:18 Modules: package names SE, US, sv_SE, en_US are unidiomatic, and every embedded path repeats itself

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: data.go:12 loadSources: addSource fills a side map keyed by path that loadSources copies onto sites after the merge, so merge order and clashes must be reasoned about on the core load path
• Locality, Shape: data.go:92 categorySite.defaultModules: the manifest's module list passes four carriers, set at two distant places and not by siteIn, so a future caller resolving siteIn sites gets a false "names no module" message
• Navigation: data/geo/SE/geo/SE/address.json geo.SE.address: every shipped file sits under a stuttered path
• Shape: fejkdata.go:65 WithDataFS: the root no longer embeds data, datafiles.Source drops base, and data sits behind data/modules.go and five small packages
• Navigation, Shape: internal/datafiles/manifest.go:23 Manifest.Reads: import paths that look resolved though nothing resolves them, generated by a test reached only through go:generate

Maintainability senior, decided by:

• Navigation, Overall: data/geo/SE/geo/SE/address.json geo.SE.address: the path repeats the namespace inside the module, one extra hop from category to file, two for geo
• Shape: internal/datafiles/manifest.go:21 Manifest.Reads: reads sounds like a loaded dependency, and the same list is also defaultModules and walked
• Navigation, Shape: data/modules.go:15 go:generate: regenerating a module's manifest runs a test one package up
• Shape: data.go:20 loadSources: defaultModules reaches categorySite by two routes, and siteIn leaves it empty

Junior A, decided by:

• Locality: data.go:12 loadSources: default modules pass through four files, an out-parameter map patched onto sites after the merge for walked sources and indexed.defaultModules copied in batch.load for indexed ones
• Locality: fejkdata.go:94 New: reads straight through with no hidden default source, which only partly offsets the above

2026-10-11T09:52:08Z, PR #203 at 4c4bbcc, against bf1becb

Ruling: worse

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	same	worse	same	worse
Inherited architect	worse	same	worse	same	worse

Mid A, decided by:

• Shape, Overall: data/geo/SE/fs.go:2 SE: each module embeds a tree repeating its own name, and the package names SE, US, en_US, sv_SE are unidiomatic; five thin packages plus a list replace one embed
• Shape: reference.go:124 withDefaultModules: "default modules" suggests modules that load by default, though nothing loads them; "by default" is spelled out only in the README
• Locality, Shape: inline.go:40 NewTemplate: errors are decorated twice, by hand, at four entry points
• Locality: fejkdata.go:101 New: the hidden shipped default is gone, offsetting the above

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Navigation, Overall: data/sv_SE/fs.go:8 FS: every data file sits under a doubled folder, data/sv_SE/sv_SE/, data/geo/SE/geo/SE/, a stop at each hop of the 3am path
• Navigation: data/modules.go:15 go:generate: the module list is written twice and the manifest writer lives in a root test run from the data package
• Shape: data/geo/SE/fs.go:2 SE: a package named SE reads as Sweden beside sv_SE, and "module" means a Go package here
• Shape: reference.go:126 withDefaultModules: one concept spelled reads, defaultModules and "read by default", the last defined only in the README
• Locality: fejkdata.go:114 New: four call sites apply loadError, withDefaultModules and noDataNote in a fixed order, offset by the hidden shipped source being gone

2026-10-11T10:44:13Z, PR #203 at 36b5062, against bf1becb

Ruling: worse

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	worse	worse	worse	same	worse
Inherited architect	worse	worse	same	worse	worse

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality, Shape, Overall: index.go:110 loadReached: a reads parameter runs through four layers only to add a note to an error, and reads already means a template's reads
• Navigation: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:36 Source.Mounted: a shipped module's broken file is labelled geo/SE/address.json, a path that no longer exists
• Locality: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:77 Source.Walk: Walk adds the mount and Load removes it, two forms of a folder path in one type
• Locality: fejkdata.go:68 WithDataFS: the shipped data no longer loads silently, a partial offset
• Shape: reference.go:127 withMissingModules: a typo in manifest-less data still gets a note about modules

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: index.go:110 loadReached: reads threaded through six signatures for one error note
• Navigation: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:36 Source.Mounted: errors name sv_SE/address.json, a path that does not exist, where the base named the real data/sv_SE/address.json
• Navigation, Self-sufficiency: data/svse/.fejkdata.json:26 namespace: a namespace no longer mirrors its folder, so the path alone no longer finds the file
• Self-sufficiency: internal/datafiles/manifest.go:23 Manifest.Reads: its comment and withMissingModules' only make sense after the README
• Locality: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:77 Source.Walk: the mount is translated in opposite directions by Walk and Load

2026-10-11T11:30:01Z, PR #203 at 2a4694b, against bf1becb

Ruling: worse

Fell: Navigation. Under the floor of 7.0: Navigation 6.88, so the same ruling counts as worse.

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	worse	better	same	same	same
Inherited architect	worse	same	same	same	same

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Junior A	7	5.5	6	6	6
Mid A	7	5.5	6.5	6	6
Maintainability senior	7	6	6.5	6.5	6.5
Inherited architect	6.5	5.5	5.5	6.5	6
Mean	6.88	5.63	6.13	6.25	6.13

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality: fejkdata.go:66 WithDataFS: every module is named at the call site, where the base silently started each generator from a package-level embed
• Navigation: data/geose/fs.go:1 geose: a dotfile manifest decides the namespace and the folder follows a lowered, no-separator rule, one translation step from a failing path to its file
• Navigation: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:57 Source.labelled: a shipped file's error prints sv_SE (address.json), where the base printed the openable data/sv_SE/address.json
• Locality: data.go:27 addSource: where a category lands depends on a field in a hidden file, a partial offset

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Navigation: data/svse/fs.go:1 svse: the step from a dot path to a folder goes through the lowered-namespace rule, stated only in the README and each package doc
• Navigation: internal/datafiles/datafiles.go:57 labelled: errors name sv_SE (address.json), not a path that opens as written
• Locality: fejkdata.go:99 New: New loads exactly its options, cancelled by data/svse/fs.go:1's dependency on geose that nothing in Go expresses

2026-10-11T13:08:34Z, PR #203 at fb2c809, against bf1becb

Ruling: better

Seat	Navigation	Locality	Shape	Self-sufficiency	Overall
Mid A	same	better	same	same	better
Inherited architect	better	better	same	better	better

Mid A, decided by:

• Locality, Overall: fejkdata.go:66 WithDataFS: the caller names every module and New refuses no data naming the fix, where the base prepended a package-level shippedSource behind config{shipped: true}
• Locality: data/sv_SE/fs.go:19 Modules: sv_SE reading geo.SE is a Go import with a doc line, not only a template reference inside address.json
• Shape: internal/datafiles/mount.go:13 mounted: a hand-built virtual fs.FS replaces a base string, balanced by Source losing a field and Walk, Load and Manifest turning path-agnostic

Inherited architect, decided by:

• Locality, Navigation, Overall: data/sv_SE/fs.go:19 Modules: a locale reading its country's places is a Go import, one hop in code where the base needed the README or a trace through JSON references
• Locality, Self-sufficiency: fejkdata.go:66 WithDataFS: every source is named at the call site, and leaving them all out gives an error that spells the fix
• Navigation: data/modules.go:17 Modules: shipped data has a Go home inside data/, each module's manifest beside its files
• Shape: internal/datafiles/mount.go:13 mounted: seven small types fake the folders above the mount, balanced by Source keeping one form and truthful per-module packages
• Self-sufficiency: data/sv_SE/fs.go:1 svse: each module says in code which namespace it supplies and what it reads