compact-is-efficient-deterministic-and-bounded

OUT derived (depth 2)

The compact module simultaneously achieves computational efficiency (O(1) per-line budget tracking via running character count with chars/4 token estimation), mathematical determinism (pure function with no side effects), and guaranteed output bounds (never exceeds the budget parameter) — all three desirable output properties without trade-offs.

Summary

The compact module was thought to deliver efficiency, determinism, and bounded output all at once with no downsides. This is currently retracted, likely because one or more of its supporting claims about budget tracking or output guarantees turned out to be incorrect or in tension with each other.

Justifications

SL — Efficient approximate tracking is the mechanism that enables deterministic bounded output without expensive per-line recomputation

Antecedents (all must be IN):

  • compact-budget-tracking-is-efficient-and-approximate — The compact module tracks token budgets efficiently through an approximate but computationally fast strategy: O(1) per-line budget checks via a running character count, with token estimation based on chars/4 — a lightweight approximation avoiding external tokenizer dependencies while maintaining accuracy sufficient for budget enforcement.
  • compact-is-deterministic-pure-and-bounded — The compact module produces output that is simultaneously deterministic (pure function with fixed priority ordering), bounded (guaranteed to never exceed the token budget), and self-describing (includes its own token count for auditability).

Dependents

These beliefs depend on this one:

Details