Design Patterns & Language

[rigelrozanski]

We should create a design patterns document for standardized design patterns and associated language which are used within Tendermint/Cosmos. Off the bat, a few features which I think should be discussed here include:

• Mappers/keepers design pattern
• Using Ensure to express conditional update functions (a function which may update something depending on a condition) - ref R4R: Fix Cliff Validator Update Bugs cosmos/cosmos-sdk#1858 (comment)
• Use of aliases for easy importing at the package level (ref Types Folder as an Alias Hub, not a types hub cosmos/cosmos-sdk#1123 / Subpackages in modules cosmos/cosmos-sdk#1124)

[rigelrozanski]

Could maybe be placed in go/ dir but this repo needs to be reorganized heavily anyways

[greg-szabo]

I think this will only be beneficial if there is some documentation on what the design pattern means. (At least a link of a blog post of some developer somewhere.)

For example:
Use contexts where possible: https://blog.golang.org/context
Use pointer method receivers where possible: https://nathanleclaire.com/blog/2014/08/09/dont-get-bitten-by-pointer-vs-non-pointer-method-receivers-in-golang/

etc... (I know that the examples are very basic.)