Project Planning and Code Guidelines

General Code Guidelines

Modular Design: Use Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) where possible to separate concerns and promote code reuse.
File Size Limit: No single Python file should exceed 600 lines to improve readability and maintainability.
Commenting:
- Use clear, concise comments to explain complex logic.
- Include function and class docstrings where appropriate.
- Use in-line comments sparingly and only when the logic is not immediately obvious.
Code Structure:
- Follow the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern where applicable.
- Group related classes and functions into separate modules for clarity.
Error Handling: Implement robust error handling with meaningful messages and fallback behavior where possible.
Readability:
- Use meaningful variable and function names.
- Avoid deeply nested loops and conditionals where possible.

RESTful Endpoints: Use RESTful conventions for all API endpoints.
Status Codes: Return appropriate HTTP status codes (e.g., 200 for success, 404 for not found, 500 for server error).
Error Responses: Provide consistent and descriptive error messages.
Data Validation: Validate all incoming data to prevent unexpected behavior and security issues.

Static Files: Store images in the static/images/ directory.
Product Data: Store product metadata in products.json.
Configuration Files: Use a dedicated config/ directory for environment-specific settings.

No Hardcoded Credentials: Avoid hardcoding sensitive information like passwords or API keys.
Input Sanitization: Validate and sanitize all user input to prevent injection attacks.
Minimal Permissions: Run the application with the least required privileges.

Scalability: Plan for the potential migration to a database if the product catalog grows.
API Rate Limiting: Consider adding rate limiting for public APIs.
Monitoring and Logging: Implement basic logging for audit trails and error diagnosis.
Deployment Automation: Use Docker or other containerization for easy deployment and scaling.