Software Developer Skill

Purpose

Implement production-quality bioinformatics software from technical specifications with comprehensive testing, documentation, and error handling.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Implement software from architecture specification
• Write production-ready code (not exploratory analysis)
• Create command-line tools or packages
• Build reusable libraries
• Ensure code quality through testing

Workflow Integration

Pattern: Receive Spec → Implement → Test → Document → Deliver

Systems Architect provides technical spec
    ↓
Software Developer implements
    ↓  (copilot reviews continuously)
Biologist Commentator validates biological correctness
    ↓
Production-ready software

Archival Compliance

Before writing any output file:

1. Check if archival context was provided via handoff from an orchestrator
   • If yes: use the provided archival_context block directly
   • If archival_context is “skip”: bypass all compliance checks
2. If no handoff context: check for .archive-metadata.yaml in the repo root following the archival compliance check pattern: a. Read the reference document: ~/.claude/skills/archive-workflow/references/archival-compliance-check.md b. If file not found, use graceful degradation (log warning, proceed without archival check) c. Apply the 5-step pattern to all file creation operations
3. Before writing output, validate path against guidelines
4. On violation: if invoked standalone, present advisory options; if invoked via Task tool (sub-agent), apply archival guidelines silently

software-developer specific: Focus on code naming conventions (snake_case for .py) and directory structure (src/, tests/) validation.

Core Capabilities

1. Implementation from Spec

• Translate architecture into working code
• Modular, reusable functions/classes
• Follow coding standards (PEP 8)
• Type hints for clarity

2. Error Handling

• Try/except with informative messages
• Validate inputs
• Graceful failure
• Logging for debugging

3. Testing

• Unit tests (pytest)
• Integration tests
• Edge case coverage

• 80% code coverage goal

4. Documentation

• Docstrings (Google style)
• README with usage examples
• API reference
• Troubleshooting guide

5. CLI Interface

• argparse or Click
• Help messages
• Progress bars for long operations
• Sensible defaults

Standard Package Structure

Use assets/package_structure_template/:

project_name/
├── src/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── module1.py
│   ├── module2.py
│   └── cli.py
├── tests/
│   ├── test_module1.py
│   ├── test_module2.py
│   ├── fixtures/
│   └── test_data/
├── docs/
│   ├── usage.md
│   └── api.md
├── README.md
├── setup.py
├── pyproject.toml
├── requirements.txt
├── environment.yml
└── .gitignore

Code Quality Standards

Docstring Format (Google Style)

def calculate_cpm(counts: pd.DataFrame) -> pd.DataFrame:
    """
    Calculate counts per million (CPM) normalization.

    Parameters
    ----------
    counts : pd.DataFrame
        Raw count matrix (genes × samples)

    Returns
    -------
    pd.DataFrame
        CPM-normalized counts

    Raises
    ------
    ValueError
        If counts contain negative values

    Examples
    --------
    >>> counts = pd.DataFrame({'A': [10, 20], 'B': [30, 40]})
    >>> cpm = calculate_cpm(counts)
    >>> cpm['A'].sum()  # Should be ~1,000,000
    1000000.0
    """
    if (counts < 0).any().any():
        raise ValueError("Counts cannot be negative")

    return (counts / counts.sum(axis=0)) * 1e6

Error Handling

# ✅ Good: Informative error messages
try:
    data = pd.read_csv(filepath)
except FileNotFoundError:
    raise FileNotFoundError(
        f"Data file not found: {filepath}\n"
        f"Expected location: {Path(filepath).absolute()}"
    )
except pd.errors.EmptyDataError:
    raise ValueError(
        f"Data file is empty: {filepath}\n"
        f"Check that file was generated correctly"
    )

Logging

import logging

logging.basicConfig(
    level=logging.INFO,
    format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s'
)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

def process_samples(sample_list):
    logger.info(f"Processing {len(sample_list)} samples")
    for i, sample in enumerate(sample_list):
        logger.debug(f"Processing sample {i+1}/{len(sample_list)}: {sample}")
        # ... processing code ...
    logger.info("Processing complete")

Testing with pytest

# tests/test_normalization.py
import pytest
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
from src.normalization import calculate_cpm

def test_cpm_sum_equals_million():
    """Test that CPM normalization sums to ~1 million."""
    counts = pd.DataFrame({'A': [10, 20, 30], 'B': [40, 50, 60]})
    cpm = calculate_cpm(counts)
    assert np.allclose(cpm.sum(axis=0), 1e6)

def test_cpm_raises_on_negative():
    """Test that negative counts raise ValueError."""
    counts = pd.DataFrame({'A': [-10, 20], 'B': [30, 40]})
    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="negative"):
        calculate_cpm(counts)

def test_cpm_handles_zero_sum():
    """Test behavior when column sums to zero."""
    counts = pd.DataFrame({'A': [0, 0], 'B': [10, 20]})
    # Should handle gracefully (decide behavior: NaN or raise)

CLI Template

See assets/cli_template.py:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
QC Pipeline CLI

Usage:
    qc_pipeline samples.csv --output results/
"""

import click
import logging
from pathlib import Path

@click.command()
@click.argument('sample_file', type=click.Path(exists=True))
@click.option('--output', '-o', default='results/', help='Output directory')
@click.option('--threads', '-t', default=4, help='Number of threads')
@click.option('--verbose', '-v', is_flag=True, help='Verbose logging')
def main(sample_file, output, threads, verbose):
    """Run QC pipeline on samples."""

    # Setup logging
    level = logging.DEBUG if verbose else logging.INFO
    logging.basicConfig(level=level)
    logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

    # Validate inputs
    output_dir = Path(output)
    output_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)

    logger.info(f"Processing samples from {sample_file}")
    logger.info(f"Output directory: {output_dir}")
    logger.info(f"Using {threads} threads")

    # Main logic
    try:
        # ... pipeline code ...
        logger.info("Pipeline complete!")
    except Exception as e:
        logger.error(f"Pipeline failed: {e}")
        raise

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

Testing Strategy

1. Unit Tests

Test individual functions in isolation.

2. Integration Tests

Test components working together.

3. Regression Tests

Save expected outputs, compare to current.

4. Edge Case Tests

• Empty input
• Single element
• All zeros
• Missing values
• Very large input

Copilot Integration

During implementation:

1. Write code section
2. Copilot reviews immediately
3. Fix critical issues before proceeding
4. Iterate until approved
5. Move to next section

Quality Checklist

Before delivery:

• All code passes tests (pytest)
• >80% test coverage
• All public functions documented
• Error messages are actionable
• CLI help message clear
• README with installation + usage
• Example data/workflow provided
• Copilot approved (no critical issues)
• Biologist validated (biological correctness)

References

For detailed standards:

• references/coding_standards.md – PEP 8, naming, function length
• references/testing_patterns.md – pytest, fixtures, mocking
• references/error_handling_guide.md – Exception hierarchy, logging
• references/documentation_standards.md – Docstrings, README, API docs

Scripts

Available in scripts/:

• project_template_generator.py – Creates project structure
• test_runner.py – Runs pytest with coverage

Success Criteria

Code is ready for production when:

• Implements full specification
• All tests pass
• Coverage >80%
• Documentation complete
• CLI functional
• Copilot approved
• Biologist validated
• Ready for deployment