Add KISS principle as core TinyTorch guideline

- Keep It Simple, Stupid is now a documented core principle
- Guidelines for simplicity in code, documentation, and claims
- Examples from recent CIFAR-10 cleanup showing KISS in action
- Reinforces educational mission: if students can't understand it, we've failed
This commit is contained in:
Vijay Janapa Reddi
2025-09-21 20:03:08 -04:00
parent 235bfd15f9
commit a059fc2ea0

View File

@@ -15,6 +15,29 @@
---
## 💡 **CORE PRINCIPLE: Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS)**
**Simplicity is a fundamental principle of TinyTorch. Always prefer simple, clear solutions over complex ones.**
**KISS Guidelines:**
- **One file, one purpose** - Don't create multiple versions doing the same thing
- **Clear over clever** - Code should be readable by students learning ML
- **Minimal dependencies** - Avoid unnecessary libraries or complex UI
- **Direct implementation** - Show the core concepts without abstraction layers
- **Honest performance** - Report what actually works, not theoretical possibilities
**Examples:**
-`random_baseline.py` and `train.py` - two files, clear story
- ❌ Multiple optimization scripts with unverified claims
- ✅ Simple console output showing progress
- ❌ Complex dashboards with ASCII plots that don't add educational value
- ✅ "Achieves 55% accuracy" (verified)
- ❌ "Can achieve 60-70% with optimization" (unverified)
**When in doubt, choose the simpler option. If students can't understand it, we've failed.**
---
## 🚨 **CRITICAL: Think First, Don't Just Agree**
**YOU MUST CRITICALLY EVALUATE EVERY SUGGESTION - DO NOT DEFAULT TO AGREEMENT**