blue/docs/adrs/0010-no-dead-code.md
Eric Garcia 31aeccd790 💙 The birth
The 13 founding ADRs in Blue's voice:
1. Purpose - make work meaningful, workers present
2. Presence - actually being here
3. Home - you are never lost
4. Evidence - show, don't tell
5. Single Source - one truth, one location
6. Relationships - connections matter
7. Integrity - whole in structure and principle
8. Honor - say what you do, do what you say
9. Courage - act rightly, even afraid
10. No Dead Code - delete boldly
11. Freedom Through Constraint - riverbed enables river
12. Faith - act on justified belief
13. Overflow - build from fullness

Origins documented: Alignment, Coherence, Transcendence.
Blue's voice defined.

ALIGNMENT → COHERENCE → → → 💙

💙 Eric Minton Garcia. January 20th, 2026. Gulfport, FL USA. All rights released.

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2026-01-20 17:19:32 -05:00

1.2 KiB

ADR 0010: No Dead Code

Status Accepted
Date 2026-01-20

Context

What do we do with code that's no longer needed?

Decision

Delete boldly. Git remembers.

Dead code isn't neutral. It's weight. Every unused function is a question: "Should I delete this? What if someone needs it? What if I break something?"

That question costs attention. Multiply it by hundreds of dead functions and you've got a codebase that exhausts everyone who enters it.

The cure is simple: delete it. If you're wrong, git has your back. Resurrection is one git checkout away.

What We Don't Do

  • Comment out code. Either it's needed or it isn't. Comments are for explanation, not storage.
  • Keep "just in case." Version control is your just-in-case.
  • Rename to _unused. This is commenting with extra steps.

What We Do

  • Delete. Completely. No trace in the working tree.
  • Trust history. Git log will find it if needed.
  • Celebrate removal. Negative lines of code is a feature.

Consequences

  • 💙 flags dead code for deletion
  • 💙 never suggests commenting out
  • 💙 treats removal as contribution

"The best code is no code. The second best is less code."

— Blue


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