A Nice Shrubbery
The Knights examine the function one final time. Precondition: present. Postcondition: present. Multiple clauses with non-overlapping types: present. The source expressions preserved in the error messages. The dispatch checks surviving --strip-assertions. The overlap detector running at compile time.
“That,” says the head Knight, “is a nice shrubbery.”
He pauses. “I mean function.”
“One that looks nice. And not too expensive.”
The developer nods. The function is, in fact, not expensive — one line of logic in production, eight lines of safety in development, and the compiler handles the transition between them.
The Knights step aside. The path through the forest is clear.