conditionfirst
Conditionfirst is a principle in systems thinking and design that emphasizes identifying and satisfying a primary condition before proceeding with subsequent steps. The core idea is to encode prerequisite conditions as explicit checks and to ensure actions occur only when their preconditions are met. This focus on early validation aims to reduce downstream errors and simplify problem solving by clarifying what must be true before work begins.
The term, while not tied to a single canonical framework, has appeared in software engineering, risk management,
In practice, conditionfirst translates into techniques such as guard clauses, precondition validation, and stage gating. Systems
Applications of conditionfirst span software development, automated workflows, operational risk assessment, and decision support in healthcare
Related concepts include preconditions, guard clauses, and conditional flow control. See also design by contract and