Fail Fast

Core Principle

Detect and report failures as soon as they occur, preventing invalid states from propagating through the system.

1. Input Validation

class UserRegistration {
    public function register(array $data): void {
        // Validate all inputs immediately
        $this->validateEmail($data['email']);
        $this->validatePassword($data['password']);
        $this->validateAge($data['age']);

        // Only proceed if all validations pass
        $this->createUser($data);
    }

    private function validateEmail(string $email): void {
        if (!filter_var($email, FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL)) {
            throw new ValidationException('Invalid email format');
        }
        if ($this->emailExists($email)) {
            throw new DuplicateEmailException('Email already registered');
        }
    }
}

Purpose:

• Prevents invalid data from entering the system
• Saves resources by failing before complex operations
• Provides clear error messages to users
• Maintains data integrity

2. Configuration Loading

class AppConfig {
    private array $config;

    public function __construct(string $configPath) {
        if (!file_exists($configPath)) {
            throw new ConfigurationException("Config file not found: $configPath");
        }

        $config = parse_ini_file($configPath, true);
        if ($config === false) {
            throw new ConfigurationException("Invalid config file format");
        }

        $this->validateRequiredSettings($config);
        $this->config = $config;
    }

    private function validateRequiredSettings(array $config): void {
        $required = ['database', 'api_key', 'environment'];
        foreach ($required as $key) {
            if (!isset($config[$key])) {
                throw new ConfigurationException("Missing required config: $key");
            }
        }
    }
}

Purpose:

• Ensures application starts with valid configuration
• Prevents runtime errors due to missing settings
• Makes configuration problems immediately visible
• Simplifies debugging configuration issues

3. Resource Initialization

class DatabaseConnection {
    private PDO $connection;

    public function __construct(array $config) {
        try {
            $this->validateDatabaseConfig($config);
            $this->connection = new PDO(
                $this->buildDsn($config),
                $config['username'],
                $config['password'],
                [PDO::ATTR_ERRMODE => PDO::ERRMODE_EXCEPTION]
            );
        } catch (PDOException $e) {
            throw new DatabaseConnectionException(
                "Failed to connect to database: " . $e->getMessage()
            );
        }
    }

    private function validateDatabaseConfig(array $config): void {
        $required = ['host', 'port', 'database', 'username', 'password'];
        foreach ($required as $param) {
            if (!isset($config[$param])) {
                throw new DatabaseConfigException("Missing $param in database config");
            }
        }
    }
}

Purpose:

• Ensures resources are properly initialized
• Prevents application from running with invalid resources
• Makes resource problems visible during startup
• Avoids cascading failures due to invalid resources

4. External Service Calls

class PaymentGateway {
    public function processPayment(Order $order): PaymentResult {
        // Validate API credentials
        if (!$this->validateApiCredentials()) {
            throw new ApiConfigurationException('Invalid API credentials');
        }

        // Validate order before external call
        if (!$order->isValid()) {
            throw new InvalidOrderException('Invalid order state');
        }

        try {
            $response = $this->apiClient->charge($order);

            if (!$response->isSuccessful()) {
                throw new PaymentFailedException($response->getError());
            }

            return new PaymentResult($response);
        } catch (ApiException $e) {
            throw new PaymentProcessingException(
                "Payment processing failed: " . $e->getMessage()
            );
        }
    }
}

Purpose:

• Prevents unnecessary API calls with invalid data
• Saves time and resources
• Provides immediate feedback on API issues
• Maintains system reliability during external service interactions

5. Data Processing Pipelines

class DataProcessor {
    public function processBatch(array $records): array {
        $this->validateBatchSize($records);

        $results = [];
        foreach ($records as $index => $record) {
            try {
                $this->validateRecord($record);
                $results[] = $this->processRecord($record);
            } catch (ValidationException $e) {
                throw new BatchProcessingException(
                    "Failed at record $index: " . $e->getMessage()
                );
            }
        }

        return $results;
    }

    private function validateBatchSize(array $records): void {
        if (empty($records)) {
            throw new EmptyBatchException('Empty batch provided');
        }

        if (count($records) > 1000) {
            throw new BatchSizeException('Batch size exceeds maximum limit');
        }
    }
}

Purpose:

• Ensures data consistency throughout processing
• Prevents partial processing of invalid data
• Makes data problems visible early
• Simplifies error tracking in complex pipelines
• Maintains data integrity across transformations

Benefits of Fail Fast

1. Early error detection
2. Cleaner debugging
3. Prevents cascading failures
4. Maintains data integrity
5. Improves system reliability

Best Practices

1. Use strong type declarations
2. Implement thorough input validation
3. Throw specific exceptions
4. Validate early in the process
5. Use assertions in development
6. Implement proper error handling
7. Log failures appropriately

When to Use Fail Fast

1. Input validation
2. Configuration loading
3. Resource initialization
4. External service calls
5. Data processing pipelines