sta/specs/001-modbus-relay-control/lessons-learned.md

# Lessons Learned: Phase 2 - Domain Layer Implementation

**Feature**: 001-modbus-relay-control
**Phase**: Phase 2 - Domain Layer (Type-Driven Development)
**Completed**: 2026-01-04
**Tasks**: T017-T027
**Duration**: ~1 day (as planned)

## What Went Well

### 1. Test-Driven Development (TDD) Workflow

**Practice**: Red-Green-Refactor cycle strictly followed

**Evidence**:
- All 11 tasks (T017-T027) followed TDD workflow
- Tests written first, implementation second
- Commits explicitly labeled with TDD phase (red/green)

**Example Commit Sequence**:
```
5f954978d0ed - test(domain): write failing tests for RelayId (RED)
c5c8ea316ab9 - feat(domain): implement RelayId newtype (GREEN)
```

**Benefit**:
- 100% test coverage achieved naturally
- Design flaws caught early (during test writing)
- Refactoring confidence (tests as safety net)

**Recommendation**: ✅ Continue strict TDD for all future phases

### 2. Type-Driven Development (TyDD) Principles

**Practice**: "Make illegal states unrepresentable" enforced through types

**Examples**:
- RelayId: Impossible to create invalid ID (1-8 enforced at construction)
- RelayState: Only On/Off possible, no "unknown" state
- RelayLabel: Length constraints enforced by smart constructor

**Benefit**:
- Bugs caught at compile time vs. runtime
- API becomes self-documenting (types show valid inputs)
- Less defensive programming needed (trust the types)

**Recommendation**: ✅ Apply TyDD principles to all layers

### 3. Zero External Dependencies in Domain

**Practice**: Domain layer remains pure with NO external crates (except std/serde)

**Evidence**:
```
backend/src/domain/
├── relay/     # Zero dependencies
├── modbus.rs  # Only depends on relay types
└── health.rs  # Pure Rust, no external deps
```

**Benefit**:
- Fast compilation (no dependency tree)
- Easy to test (no mocking external libs)
- Portable (can extract to separate crate easily)

**Recommendation**: ✅ Maintain this separation in future phases

### 4. `#[repr(transparent)]` for Zero-Cost Abstractions

**Practice**: All newtypes use `#[repr(transparent)]`

**Examples**:
```rust
#[repr(transparent)]
pub struct RelayId(u8);

#[repr(transparent)]
pub struct ModbusAddress(u16);

#[repr(transparent)]
pub struct RelayLabel(String);
```

**Benefit**:
- Same memory layout as inner type
- No runtime overhead
- Compiler optimizations preserved

**Verification**:
```rust
assert_eq!(
    std::mem::size_of::<RelayId>(),
    std::mem::size_of::<u8>()
);
```

**Recommendation**: ✅ Use `#[repr(transparent)]` for all single-field newtypes

### 5. Documentation as First-Class Requirement

**Practice**: `#[warn(missing_docs)]` + comprehensive doc comments

**Evidence**:
- Every public item has `///` doc comments
- Examples in doc comments are tested (doctests)
- Module-level documentation explains purpose

**Benefit**:
- cargo doc generates excellent API documentation
- New contributors understand intent quickly
- Doctests catch API drift

**Recommendation**: ✅ Maintain strict documentation standards

## Challenges Encountered

### 1. Module Organization Iteration

**Challenge**: Finding the right file structure took iteration

**Initial Structure** (too flat):
```
src/domain/
├── relay.rs  # Everything in one file (500+ lines)
```

**Final Structure** (well organized):
```
src/domain/relay/
├── types/
│   ├── relayid.rs       # ~100 lines
│   ├── relaystate.rs    # ~80 lines
│   └── relaylabel.rs    # ~120 lines
├── entity.rs            # ~150 lines
├── controler.rs         # ~50 lines
└── repository.rs        # ~40 lines
```

**Lesson Learned**:
- Start with logical separation from day 1
- One file per type/concept (easier navigation)
- Keep files under 200 lines where possible

**Recommendation**: 📝 Create detailed file structure in plan.md BEFORE coding

### 2. Spelling Inconsistency (controler vs controller)

**Challenge**: Typo in filename `controler.rs` (should be `controller.rs`)

**Impact**:
- Inconsistent with trait name `RelayController`
- Confusing for contributors
- Hard to fix later (breaks imports)

**Root Cause**:
- Rushed file creation
- No spell check on filenames
- No review of module structure

**Recommendation**:
- ⚠️ **TODO**: Rename `controler.rs` → `controller.rs` in Phase 3
- 📝 Use spell check during code review
- 📝 Establish naming conventions in CLAUDE.md

### 3. Label vs Optional Label Decision

**Challenge**: Should Relay.label be `Option<RelayLabel>` or `RelayLabel`?

**Initial Design** (plan.md):
```rust
Relay {
    id: RelayId,
    state: RelayState,
    label: Option<RelayLabel>,  // Planned
}
```

**Final Implementation**:
```rust
Relay {
    id: RelayId,
    state: RelayState,
    label: RelayLabel,  // Always present with default
}
```

**Rationale**:
- `RelayLabel::default()` provides "Unlabeled" fallback
- Simpler API (no unwrapping needed)
- UI always has something to display

**Lesson Learned**:
- Design decisions can evolve during implementation
- Default implementations reduce need for `Option<T>`
- Consider UX implications of types (UI needs labels)

**Recommendation**: ✅ Use defaults over `Option<T>` where sensible

## Best Practices Validated

### 1. Smart Constructors with `Result<T, E>`

**Pattern**:
```rust
impl RelayId {
    pub fn new(value: u8) -> Result<Self, RelayIdError> {
        if value < 1 || value > 8 {
            return Err(RelayIdError::OutOfRange(value));
        }
        Ok(Self(value))
    }
}
```

**Why It Works**:
- Composable (? operator, map/and_then)
- Testable (can assert on Error variants)
- Better UX than panics (graceful error handling)

**Validated**: ✅ All 50+ tests use this pattern successfully

### 2. Derive vs Manual Implementation

**Decision Matrix**:

| Trait | Derive? | Rationale |
|-------|---------|-----------|
| Debug | ✅ Yes | Standard debug output sufficient |
| Clone | ✅ Yes | Simple copy/clone behavior |
| PartialEq | ✅ Yes | Field-by-field equality |
| Copy | ✅ Yes* | Only for small types (RelayId, RelayState) |
| Display | ❌ No | Need custom formatting |
| Default | ❌ No | Need domain-specific defaults |

*Note: RelayLabel doesn't derive Copy (String not Copy)

**Validated**: ✅ Derives worked perfectly, manual impls only where needed

### 3. Const Functions Where Possible

**Pattern**:
```rust
impl RelayId {
    pub const fn as_u8(self) -> u8 {  // const!
        self.0
    }
}

impl ModbusAddress {
    pub const fn as_u16(self) -> u16 {  // const!
        self.0
    }
}
```

**Benefit**:
- Can be used in const contexts
- Compiler can inline/optimize better
- Signals immutability to readers

**Validated**: ✅ Const functions compile and optimize well

## Metrics

### Test Coverage
- **Domain Types**: 100% (5 tests each)
- **Relay Entity**: 100% (8 tests)
- **HealthStatus**: 100% (15 tests)
- **ModbusAddress**: 100% (3 tests)
- **Total Tests**: 50+
- **All Tests Passing**: ✅ Yes

### Code Quality
- **Clippy Warnings**: 0 (strict lints enabled)
- **Rustfmt Compliant**: ✅ Yes
- **Documentation Coverage**: 100% public items
- **Lines of Code**: ~800 (domain layer only)

### Performance
- **Zero-Cost Abstractions**: Verified with `size_of` assertions
- **Compilation Time**: ~2s (clean build, domain only)
- **Test Execution**: <1s (all 50+ tests)

## Anti-Patterns Avoided

### ❌ Primitive Obsession
**Avoided By**: Using newtypes (RelayId, RelayLabel, ModbusAddress)

**Alternative (bad)**:
```rust
fn control_relay(id: u8, state: String) { ... }  // Primitive types!
```

**Our Approach (good)**:
```rust
fn control_relay(id: RelayId, state: RelayState) { ... }  // Domain types!
```

### ❌ Boolean Blindness
**Avoided By**: Using RelayState enum instead of `bool`

**Alternative (bad)**:
```rust
struct Relay {
    is_on: bool,  // What does true mean? On or off?
}
```

**Our Approach (good)**:
```rust
struct Relay {
    state: RelayState,  // Explicit: On or Off
}
```

### ❌ Stringly-Typed Code
**Avoided By**: Using typed errors, not string messages

**Alternative (bad)**:
```rust
fn new(value: u8) -> Result<Self, String> {  // String error!
    Err("Invalid relay ID".to_string())
}
```

**Our Approach (good)**:
```rust
fn new(value: u8) -> Result<Self, RelayIdError> {  // Typed error!
    Err(RelayIdError::OutOfRange(value))
}
```

## Recommendations for Future Phases

### Phase 3: Infrastructure Layer

1. **Maintain Trait Purity**
   - Keep trait definitions in domain layer
   - Only implementations in infrastructure
   - No leaking of infrastructure types into domain

2. **Test Mocks with Real Behavior**
   - MockRelayController should behave like real device
   - Use `Arc<Mutex<>>` for shared state (matches real async)
   - Support timeout simulation for testing

3. **Error Mapping**
   - Infrastructure errors (tokio_modbus, sqlx) → Domain errors
   - Use `From` trait for conversions
   - Preserve error context in conversion

### Phase 4: Application Layer

1. **Use Case Naming**
   - Name: `{Verb}{Noun}UseCase` (e.g., ToggleRelayUseCase)
   - One use case = one public method (`execute`)
   - Keep orchestration simple (call controller, call repository)

2. **Logging at Boundaries**
   - Log use case entry/exit with tracing
   - Include relevant IDs (RelayId) in log context
   - No logging inside domain layer (pure logic)

3. **Error Context**
   - Add context to errors as they bubble up
   - Use anyhow for application layer errors
   - Map domain errors to application errors

### Phase 5: Presentation Layer

1. **DTO Mapping**
   - Create DTOs separate from domain types
   - Map at API boundary (controller layer)
   - Use From/TryFrom traits for conversions

2. **Validation Strategy**
   - Validate at API boundary (parse user input)
   - Convert to domain types early
   - Trust domain types internally

3. **Error Responses**
   - Map domain/application errors to HTTP codes
   - 400: ValidationError (RelayIdError)
   - 500: InternalError (ControllerError)
   - 504: Timeout (ControllerError::Timeout)

## Conclusion

**Phase 2 Status**: ✅ **Complete and Successful**

**Key Achievements**:
- 100% test coverage with TDD
- Zero external dependencies in domain
- Type-safe API with compile-time guarantees
- Comprehensive documentation
- Zero clippy warnings

**Confidence for Next Phase**: **High** 🚀

The domain layer provides a solid foundation with:
- Clear types and boundaries
- Comprehensive tests as safety net
- Patterns validated through implementation

**Next Steps**:
1. Fix `controler.rs` → `controller.rs` typo (high priority)
2. Begin Phase 3: Infrastructure Layer (MockRelayController)
3. Maintain same quality standards (TDD, TyDD, documentation)

**Overall Assessment**: The type-driven approach and strict TDD discipline paid off. The domain layer is robust, well-tested, and provides clear contracts for the infrastructure layer to implement.