atgreen Subtraction-First
Overview
Core principle: Before adding anything, try to remove something. The best improvement is usually a deletion. Reach for subtraction first and adoption only when subtraction fails.
Humans — and models — have a documented bias toward solving problems by adding rather than removing, even when removing is simpler and better. The bias is invisible from the inside, which is exactly why it needs a rule: make deletion the default hypothesis, not the last resort.
The Question to Ask First
Not "what should I add to make this better?" but:
What could I remove and have this be just as good or better?
Run down the list before you write a single new line:
- Dead code — unreachable branches, unused functions, commented-out graveyards.
- Unused parameters and options — arguments nobody passes, flags nobody flips.
- Speculative generality — abstraction built for a second caller that never arrived.
- Forwarding layers — a wrapper whose whole job is to call one other thing.
- Defensive checks that can't fire — guards against states the type system or callers already forbid.
- Comments that restate the code — delete the comment or fix the name it's apologizing for.
- Whole features — the option nobody uses is a cost everyone pays. Removing it is a feature.
The Discipline
NO ADDITION UNTIL SUBTRACTION HAS BEEN TRIED AND FAILED
When you catch yourself about to add:
- State what you're about to add and why.
- Find the deletion that would solve the same problem. There usually is one.
- Only if no deletion works, add — and add the smallest thing.
| You're about to add... | Try removing instead... |
|---|---|
| A config option for two behaviors | One of the two behaviors |
| A wrapper to adapt an awkward interface | The awkwardness in the interface |
| A special case for weird input | The path that produces the weird input |
| A comment explaining a tricky line | The trickiness (rename, split, flatten) |
| A helper to reduce duplication | The duplication's cause — often one thing pretending to be two |
| A flag to make behavior optional | The reason anyone wanted it optional |
When Subtraction Is Wrong
Subtraction is the default, not a mandate. Don't remove:
- Behavior something actually depends on. Prove it's unused before deleting — a grep, a test, a run — never assume.
- Clarity. Removing a well-named intermediate to save a line can raise the cost of understanding. Subtract effort-to-understand, not just tokens.
- Intentional roughness — a loud crash, a blunt escape hatch, a
TODOleft on purpose.
The goal is less to understand and maintain, not the smallest possible diff.
Signs You're Adding When You Should Subtract
- The fix makes the file longer and you feel vaguely worse about it.
- You're writing a comment to explain why the new thing is necessary.
- The new abstraction has exactly one caller.
- You're adding a flag whose two branches barely differ.
Any of these: stop. Ask what deletion solves the same problem.
Relationship to Other Skills
This is the whittler's first pass. It pairs with naming-as-design (a better name often deletes a comment or a helper) and reading-like-prose (flattening removes structure).