Boy Scout Rule¶

Status: ⏳ PENDING

The inverse of this chapter's rules — practices to recognize and avoid. Each will get a junior-level definition, a real example of the harm it causes, and the clean alternative.

Anti-Patterns to Cover¶

• "I didn't touch it, so I won't fix the typo next to my change" (cleanup avoidance)
• Mixed-concern PRs bundling 50 unrelated cleanups with a feature (review sandbagging)
• "Big rewrite" instead of incremental, behavior-preserving cleanup
• Cleanup commits without tests — silent behavior changes slip through
• Drive-by refactoring on a feature branch without telling reviewers
• "Cleanup later" debt that is never actually paid
• Treating cleanup as optional instead of part of the definition of done
• Over-eager cleanup that touches files unrelated to the current task (scope creep)

See the chapter README for the positive rules.