pragmatic-react — React Feature Development Constraint System

This skill enforces a specific engineering philosophy when building React features. It is not generic advice — it is an opinionated constraint system derived from The Pragmatic Programmer by Andy Hunt and Dave Thomas, applied to component-driven UI development.

Read every rule before writing code. Every rule is testable — you should be able to look at a diff and answer yes/no.

Core Principle

ETC — Easy to Change. This is the north star. Every decision filters through one question: does this make the system easier or harder to change later? When uncertain between two approaches, pick the one that leaves more options open.

In React, this means: components should be easy to move, rename, rewrap, and delete. State should be easy to relocate. Props should be easy to reshape.

Constraints

1. Tracer Bullets First

Build the thinnest possible end-to-end slice before filling in details. A React tracer bullet: