prototype

name	prototype
description	Build a throwaway prototype to answer a design question before committing to an implementation. Use when sanity-checking a data model, state machine, or design approach.

Prototype

A prototype is throwaway code that answers a question. The question decides the shape.

Pick a Branch

Identify the question being answered:

• "Does this data model / state machine feel right?" → Build a minimal C++ harness that exercises the key state transitions or data operations
• "What should this protocol look like?" → Sketch the sdp struct definitions and walk through the request/response flow

If genuinely ambiguous, default to whichever branch matches the surrounding code.

Rules

1. Throwaway from day one, clearly marked. Name the file or directory so a reader instantly knows it's a prototype: proto_xxx.cpp, scratch_xxx.sdp
2. One command to build. Use ./build.sh. The result must compile and run without thinking
3. No persistence by default. State lives in memory unless persistence is the question being answered
4. Skip the polish. No full error handling beyond what makes it runnable. The point is to learn fast and delete
5. Surface the state. After every operation, log the full relevant state so the question can be answered
6. Delete or absorb when done. Never leave prototype code rotting in the codebase

Capture the Answer

The answer is the only thing worth keeping. Capture it in a NOTES.md next to the prototype, or in an SVN commit message, or as an ADR:

## Question
[What were we trying to learn?]

## Answer
[What did we find out?]

## Decision
[What will we do as a result?]

Then delete the prototype and invoke /plan to begin the real implementation.