Agent Skills: MISSION: M5 Branch Elimination Pass

MISSION: M5 Branch Elimination Pass

Target File: $1 Build Tag: 1111.007-phase7-t1 Protocol: V12 M5 Zero-Allocation / Jane Street Dispatch Pattern

WHAT THIS OPTIMIZES

Replace dense if/switch chains in hot-path methods with pre-built Dictionary<string, Action> or Dictionary<string, Func<T,T>> dispatch tables.

BEFORE (branch-heavy):

if (action == "market") ExecuteTarget_Market(ctx);
else if (action == "onepoint") ExecuteTarget_OnePoint(ctx);
else if (action == "twopoint") ExecuteTarget_TwoPoint(ctx);
// ... 6+ branches

AFTER (dispatch table):

private static readonly Dictionary<string, Action<ExecContext>> _targetHandlers
    = new Dictionary<string, Action<ExecContext>>
    {
        { "market",   ctx => ctx.ExecuteTarget_Market()    },
        { "onepoint", ctx => ctx.ExecuteTarget_OnePoint()  },
        { "twopoint", ctx => ctx.ExecuteTarget_TwoPoint()  },
    };
// Hot path: single dictionary lookup, zero branches
if (_targetHandlers.TryGetValue(action, out var handler)) handler(ctx);

Benefits:

• Zero branch misprediction on CPU hot path
• O(1) dispatch regardless of case count
• Easier to extend (add new case = add one dictionary entry)
• Aligns with Jane Street / HFT dispatch patterns

STEP 1 -- SCAN FOR DISPATCH CANDIDATES

Use read_file on $1 to identify all switch/if-else chains where:

• The branching variable is a string, enum, or int action code
• Each branch calls a distinct named method (not inline logic)
• The method is called on the trading hot path (callbacks, OnBarUpdate, order handlers)
• The chain has >= 4 branches (below 4, a switch is fine)

Produce a candidate table:

| Method | Branch Type | Branch Count | Hot Path? | Candidate? |
|--------|-------------|--------------|-----------|------------|
| RouteTargetActionToHandler | string switch | 6 | YES | YES |
| DispatchRunnerAction | string switch | 5 | YES | YES |

STEP 2 -- DISPATCH TABLE DESIGN

For each confirmed candidate, design the replacement:

| Method | Dictionary Key Type | Value Type | Static? | Init Location |

Rules:

• ALWAYS private static readonly for the dictionary (allocated once, zero GC)
• Key must be the EXACT type of the switch variable (string/enum/int)
• Value is Action<TContext> or Func<TContext, TResult> as appropriate
• Init in the class static initializer or field initializer (never in OnStateChange)
• NEVER allocate new delegates in the hot path -- delegates must be pre-stored

!!! DIRECTOR APPROVAL GATE !!!

STOP HERE. Do NOT change any code until the Director types: APPROVED

Output: "[M5-GATE] Dispatch table design complete. Awaiting Director approval."

STEP 3 -- SURGICAL REPLACEMENT (Only after APPROVED)

For each candidate:

1. Add private static readonly Dictionary<...> _[name]Handlers = new Dictionary<...> { ... }; immediately above the method in the source file
2. Replace the switch/if body with a single TryGetValue + invocation
3. Keep the method signature IDENTICAL -- only the body changes
4. Add a fallback log for unknown keys: Print("M5-WARN: unknown action: " + key); (ASCII-only -- no Unicode in the Print string)

DNA rules during replacement:

• ZERO new lock() statements
• ZERO non-ASCII in string literals
• ZERO inline new() allocations in the hot-path method body
• Dictionary itself MUST be static readonly (not instance, not lazy)

STEP 4 -- POST-EDIT DNA AUDIT (mandatory)

# 4a: Re-establish hard links
powershell -File .\deploy-sync.ps1

# 4b: Lock regression
grep -r "lock(" src/

# 4c: Unicode regression
grep -Prn "[^\x00-\x7F]" src/

# 4d: Allocation regression (verify no new() in hot-path methods)
grep -n "new " src/$1

Report:

[M5-AUDIT]
Target: $1
deploy-sync.ps1: PASS / FAIL
lock() audit: CLEAN / [N]
Unicode audit: CLEAN / [N]
Dispatch tables added: [list]
Branches eliminated: [total count]

STEP 5 -- HANDOFF

[M5-COMPLETE]
File: $1
Dispatch tables created: [list with key type + entry count]
Branches eliminated: [N total]
Status: READY FOR F5 COMPILE