Backend Core

Use this skill before dropping into a language-specific backend skill when the main question is architectural or operational rather than syntax-level.

For large features (multiple files, new concepts, migrations), run jimmy-skills@engineering-design-thinking first — it provides the full five-gate process before any implementation begins. The principles below are the backend-specific application of that process.

Design Thinking

Programming is thinking, not typing. Every principle below exists to protect that idea.

1. Structure serves clarity, not paradigm

Do not pick OOP, procedural, or functional because of ideology. Pick what makes the code readable after the project stops being small.