best-practices

Best Practices

Modern web development standards based on Lighthouse best practices audits and production-proven coding standards. Covers security, browser compatibility, code quality patterns, and write-time enforcement.

Code Quality Principles

1. Readability First

• Code is read more than written
• Clear variable and function names
• Self-documenting code preferred over comments
• Consistent formatting

2. KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid)

• Simplest solution that works
• Avoid over-engineering
• No premature optimization
• Easy to understand > clever code

3. DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself)

• Extract common logic into functions
• Create reusable components
• Share utilities across modules
• Avoid copy-paste programming

4. YAGNI (You Aren't Gonna Need It)

• Don't build features before they're needed
• Avoid speculative generality
• Add complexity only when required
• Start simple, refactor when needed

---

TypeScript/JavaScript Standards

Variable Naming

// ✅ GOOD: Descriptive names
const marketSearchQuery = 'election'
const isUserAuthenticated = true
const totalRevenue = 1000

// ❌ BAD: Unclear names
const q = 'election'
const flag = true
const x = 1000

Function Naming

// ✅ GOOD: Verb-noun pattern
async function fetchMarketData(marketId: string) { }
function calculateSimilarity(a: number[], b: number[]) { }
function isValidEmail(email: string): boolean { }

// ❌ BAD: Unclear or noun-only
async function market(id: string) { }
function similarity(a, b) { }
function email(e) { }

Immutability Pattern (CRITICAL)

// ✅ ALWAYS use spread operator
const updatedUser = {
  ...user,
  name: 'New Name'
}

const updatedArray = [...items, newItem]

// ❌ NEVER mutate directly
user.name = 'New Name'  // BAD
items.push(newItem)     // BAD

Error Handling

// ✅ GOOD: Comprehensive error handling
async function fetchData(url: string) {
  try {
    const response = await fetch(url)

    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: ${response.statusText}`)
    }

    return await response.json()
  } catch (error) {
    console.error('Fetch failed:', error)
    throw new Error('Failed to fetch data')
  }
}

// ❌ BAD: No error handling
async function fetchData(url) {
  const response = await fetch(url)
  return response.json()
}

Async/Await Best Practices

// ✅ GOOD: Parallel execution when possible
const [users, markets, stats] = await Promise.all([
  fetchUsers(),
  fetchMarkets(),
  fetchStats()
])

// ❌ BAD: Sequential when unnecessary
const users = await fetchUsers()
const markets = await fetchMarkets()
const stats = await fetchStats()

Type Safety

// ✅ GOOD: Proper types
interface Market {
  id: string
  name: string
  status: 'active' | 'resolved' | 'closed'
  created_at: Date
}

function getMarket(id: string): Promise<Market> {
  // Implementation
}

// ❌ BAD: Using 'any'
function getMarket(id: any): Promise<any> {
  // Implementation
}

---

React Best Practices

Component Structure

// ✅ GOOD: Functional component with types
interface ButtonProps {
  children: React.ReactNode
  onClick: () => void
  disabled?: boolean
  variant?: 'primary' | 'secondary'
}

export function Button({
  children,
  onClick,
  disabled = false,
  variant = 'primary'
}: ButtonProps) {
  return (
    <button
      onClick={onClick}
      disabled={disabled}
      className={`btn btn-${variant}`}
    >
      {children}
    </button>
  )
}

// ❌ BAD: No types, unclear structure
export function Button(props) {
  return <button onClick={props.onClick}>{props.children}</button>
}

Custom Hooks

// ✅ GOOD: Reusable custom hook
export function useDebounce<T>(value: T, delay: number): T {
  const [debouncedValue, setDebouncedValue] = useState<T>(value)

  useEffect(() => {
    const handler = setTimeout(() => {
      setDebouncedValue(value)
    }, delay)

    return () => {
      clearTimeout(handler)
    }
  }, [value, delay])

  return debouncedValue
}

// Usage
const debouncedSearch = useDebounce(searchQuery, 300)

---

Code Review Checklist

Pre-Review Self-Check

Before submitting code for review:

### Functionality
- [ ] Code works as intended
- [ ] Edge cases handled
- [ ] Error paths tested
- [ ] No hardcoded secrets or values

### Code Quality
- [ ] Follows naming conventions
- [ ] No code duplication (DRY)
- [ ] Functions are focused (single responsibility)
- [ ] No unnecessary complexity (KISS)
- [ ] No speculative features (YAGNI)

### TypeScript/JavaScript
- [ ] Proper types (no `any`)
- [ ] Null checks where needed
- [ ] Async/await used correctly
- [ ] No mutation of props/state

### React
- [ ] Proper hook dependencies
- [ ] No memory leaks (cleanup)
- [ ] Keys provided for lists
- [ ] Accessibility attributes

### Testing
- [ ] Unit tests added/updated
- [ ] Integration tests if needed
- [ ] All tests passing
- [ ] No test coverage gaps

### Documentation
- [ ] Complex logic commented
- [ ] API changes documented
- [ ] README updated if needed

---

Write-Time Code Quality

Auto-Format on Save

Configure your editor to format on save:

// VS Code settings.json
{
  "editor.formatOnSave": true,
  "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode",
  "[typescript]": {
    "editor.defaultFormatter": "vscode.typescript-language-features"
  }
}

Pre-Commit Hooks

// package.json
{
  "husky": {
    "hooks": {
      "pre-commit": "lint-staged"
    }
  },
  "lint-staged": {
    "*.{ts,tsx}": ["eslint --fix", "prettier --write"],
    "*.{js,jsx}": ["eslint --fix", "prettier --write"]
  }
}

Claude Code Hook Integration

For automatic quality enforcement during Claude Code sessions:

// .claude/settings.json
{
  "hooks": {
    "PostToolUse": [{
      "matcher": "Write|Edit",
      "hooks": [{
        "type": "command",
        "command": "npm run lint:fix"
      }]
    }]
  }
}

---

Security

HTTPS everywhere

Enforce HTTPS:

<!-- ❌ Mixed content -->
<img src="http://example.com/image.jpg">
<script src="http://cdn.example.com/script.js"></script>

<!-- ✅ HTTPS only -->
<img src="https://example.com/image.jpg">
<script src="https://cdn.example.com/script.js"></script>

<!-- ✅ Protocol-relative (will use page's protocol) -->
<img src="//example.com/image.jpg">

HSTS Header:

Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload

Content Security Policy (CSP)

<!-- Basic CSP via meta tag -->
<meta http-equiv="Content-Security-Policy" 
      content="default-src 'self'; 
               script-src 'self' https://trusted-cdn.com; 
               style-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline';
               img-src 'self' data: https:;
               connect-src 'self' https://api.example.com;">

<!-- Better: HTTP header -->

CSP Header (recommended):

Content-Security-Policy: 
  default-src 'self';
  script-src 'self' 'nonce-abc123' https://trusted.com;
  style-src 'self' 'nonce-abc123';
  img-src 'self' data: https:;
  connect-src 'self' https://api.example.com;
  frame-ancestors 'self';
  base-uri 'self';
  form-action 'self';

Using nonces for inline scripts:

<script nonce="abc123">
  // This inline script is allowed
</script>

Security headers

# Prevent clickjacking
X-Frame-Options: DENY

# Prevent MIME type sniffing
X-Content-Type-Options: nosniff

# Enable XSS filter (legacy browsers)
X-XSS-Protection: 1; mode=block

# Control referrer information
Referrer-Policy: strict-origin-when-cross-origin

# Permissions policy (formerly Feature-Policy)
Permissions-Policy: geolocation=(), microphone=(), camera=()

No vulnerable libraries

# Check for vulnerabilities
npm audit
yarn audit

# Auto-fix when possible
npm audit fix

# Check specific package
npm ls lodash

Keep dependencies updated:

// package.json
{
  "scripts": {
    "audit": "npm audit --audit-level=moderate",
    "update": "npm update && npm audit fix"
  }
}

Known vulnerable patterns to avoid:

// ❌ Prototype pollution vulnerable patterns
Object.assign(target, userInput);
_.merge(target, userInput);

// ✅ Safer alternatives
const safeData = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(userInput));

Input sanitization

// ❌ XSS vulnerable
element.innerHTML = userInput;
document.write(userInput);

// ✅ Safe text content
element.textContent = userInput;

// ✅ If HTML needed, sanitize
import DOMPurify from 'dompurify';
element.innerHTML = DOMPurify.sanitize(userInput);

Secure cookies

// ❌ Insecure cookie
document.cookie = "session=abc123";

// ✅ Secure cookie (server-side)
Set-Cookie: session=abc123; Secure; HttpOnly; SameSite=Strict; Path=/

---

Browser compatibility

Doctype declaration

<!-- ❌ Missing or invalid doctype -->
<HTML>
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">

<!-- ✅ HTML5 doctype -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

Character encoding

<!-- ❌ Missing or late charset -->
<html>
<head>
  <title>Page</title>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
</head>

<!-- ✅ Charset as first element in head -->
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>Page</title>
</head>

Viewport meta tag

<!-- ❌ Missing viewport -->
<head>
  <title>Page</title>
</head>

<!-- ✅ Responsive viewport -->
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Page</title>
</head>

Feature detection

// ❌ Browser detection (brittle)
if (navigator.userAgent.includes('Chrome')) {
  // Chrome-specific code
}

// ✅ Feature detection
if ('IntersectionObserver' in window) {
  // Use IntersectionObserver
} else {
  // Fallback
}

// ✅ Using @supports in CSS
@supports (display: grid) {
  .container {
    display: grid;
  }
}

@supports not (display: grid) {
  .container {
    display: flex;
  }
}

Polyfills (when needed)

<!-- Load polyfills conditionally -->
<script>
  if (!('fetch' in window)) {
    document.write('<script src="/polyfills/fetch.js"><\/script>');
  }
</script>

<!-- Or use polyfill.io -->
<script src="https://polyfill.io/v3/polyfill.min.js?features=fetch,IntersectionObserver"></script>

---

Deprecated APIs

Avoid these

// ❌ document.write (blocks parsing)
document.write('<script src="..."></script>');

// ✅ Dynamic script loading
const script = document.createElement('script');
script.src = '...';
document.head.appendChild(script);

// ❌ Synchronous XHR (blocks main thread)
const xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open('GET', url, false); // false = synchronous

// ✅ Async fetch
const response = await fetch(url);

// ❌ Application Cache (deprecated)
<html manifest="cache.manifest">

// ✅ Service Workers
if ('serviceWorker' in navigator) {
  navigator.serviceWorker.register('/sw.js');
}

Event listener passive

// ❌ Non-passive touch/wheel (may block scrolling)
element.addEventListener('touchstart', handler);
element.addEventListener('wheel', handler);

// ✅ Passive listeners (allows smooth scrolling)
element.addEventListener('touchstart', handler, { passive: true });
element.addEventListener('wheel', handler, { passive: true });

// ✅ If you need preventDefault, be explicit
element.addEventListener('touchstart', handler, { passive: false });

---

Console & errors

No console errors

// ❌ Errors in production
console.log('Debug info'); // Remove in production
throw new Error('Unhandled'); // Catch all errors

// ✅ Proper error handling
try {
  riskyOperation();
} catch (error) {
  // Log to error tracking service
  errorTracker.captureException(error);
  // Show user-friendly message
  showErrorMessage('Something went wrong. Please try again.');
}

Error boundaries (React)

class ErrorBoundary extends React.Component {
  state = { hasError: false };
  
  static getDerivedStateFromError(error) {
    return { hasError: true };
  }
  
  componentDidCatch(error, info) {
    errorTracker.captureException(error, { extra: info });
  }
  
  render() {
    if (this.state.hasError) {
      return <FallbackUI />;
    }
    return this.props.children;
  }
}

// Usage
<ErrorBoundary>
  <App />
</ErrorBoundary>

Global error handler

// Catch unhandled errors
window.addEventListener('error', (event) => {
  errorTracker.captureException(event.error);
});

// Catch unhandled promise rejections
window.addEventListener('unhandledrejection', (event) => {
  errorTracker.captureException(event.reason);
});

---

Source maps

Production configuration

// ❌ Source maps exposed in production
// webpack.config.js
module.exports = {
  devtool: 'source-map', // Exposes source code
};

// ✅ Hidden source maps (uploaded to error tracker)
module.exports = {
  devtool: 'hidden-source-map',
};

// ✅ Or no source maps in production
module.exports = {
  devtool: process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production' ? false : 'source-map',
};

---

Performance best practices

Avoid blocking patterns

// ❌ Blocking script
<script src="heavy-library.js"></script>

// ✅ Deferred script
<script defer src="heavy-library.js"></script>

// ❌ Blocking CSS import
@import url('other-styles.css');

// ✅ Link tags (parallel loading)
<link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="other-styles.css">

Efficient event handlers

// ❌ Handler on every element
items.forEach(item => {
  item.addEventListener('click', handleClick);
});

// ✅ Event delegation
container.addEventListener('click', (e) => {
  if (e.target.matches('.item')) {
    handleClick(e);
  }
});

Memory management

// ❌ Memory leak (never removed)
const handler = () => { /* ... */ };
window.addEventListener('resize', handler);

// ✅ Cleanup when done
const handler = () => { /* ... */ };
window.addEventListener('resize', handler);

// Later, when component unmounts:
window.removeEventListener('resize', handler);

// ✅ Using AbortController
const controller = new AbortController();
window.addEventListener('resize', handler, { signal: controller.signal });

// Cleanup:
controller.abort();

---

Code quality

Valid HTML

<!-- ❌ Invalid HTML -->
<div id="header">
<div id="header"> <!-- Duplicate ID -->

<ul>
  <div>Item</div> <!-- Invalid child -->
</ul>

<a href="/"><button>Click</button></a> <!-- Invalid nesting -->

<!-- ✅ Valid HTML -->
<header id="site-header">
</header>

<ul>
  <li>Item</li>
</ul>

<a href="/" class="button">Click</a>

Semantic HTML

<!-- ❌ Non-semantic -->
<div class="header">
  <div class="nav">
    <div class="nav-item">Home</div>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="main">
  <div class="article">
    <div class="title">Headline</div>
  </div>
</div>

<!-- ✅ Semantic HTML5 -->
<header>
  <nav>
    <a href="/">Home</a>
  </nav>
</header>
<main>
  <article>
    <h1>Headline</h1>
  </article>
</main>

Image aspect ratios

<!-- ❌ Distorted images -->
<img src="photo.jpg" width="300" height="100">
<!-- If actual ratio is 4:3, this squishes the image -->

<!-- ✅ Preserve aspect ratio -->
<img src="photo.jpg" width="300" height="225">
<!-- Actual 4:3 dimensions -->

<!-- ✅ CSS object-fit for flexibility -->
<img src="photo.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 200px; object-fit: cover;">

---

Permissions & privacy

Request permissions properly

// ❌ Request on page load (bad UX, often denied)
navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(success, error);

// ✅ Request in context, after user action
findNearbyButton.addEventListener('click', async () => {
  // Explain why you need it
  if (await showPermissionExplanation()) {
    navigator.geolocation.getCurrentPosition(success, error);
  }
});

Permissions policy

<!-- Restrict powerful features -->
<meta http-equiv="Permissions-Policy" 
      content="geolocation=(), camera=(), microphone=()">

<!-- Or allow for specific origins -->
<meta http-equiv="Permissions-Policy" 
      content="geolocation=(self 'https://maps.example.com')">

---

Audit checklist

Security (critical)

• HTTPS enabled, no mixed content
• No vulnerable dependencies (npm audit)
• CSP headers configured
• Security headers present
• No exposed source maps

Compatibility

• Valid HTML5 doctype
• Charset declared first in head
• Viewport meta tag present
• No deprecated APIs used
• Passive event listeners for scroll/touch

Code quality

• No console errors
• Valid HTML (no duplicate IDs)
• Semantic HTML elements used
• Proper error handling
• Memory cleanup in components

UX

• No intrusive interstitials
• Permission requests in context
• Clear error messages
• Appropriate image aspect ratios

Tools

References

• MDN Web Security
• OWASP Top 10
• Web Quality Audit