The scenario
Replace serialized comparison with a structural walk that reports where values diverge.
A failure to reason about
An assertion reports different serialized text for values that are structurally equivalent, then gives no useful location for a real mismatch.
Illustrative context for the topic. The exercise’s full requirements arrive in the workspace.
Questions to bring to your review
- Which caller makes the reported behavior visible?
- What focused regression would distinguish the current behavior from the requirement?
- What existing behavior must remain intact after the change?
Skills you will practice
- Test assertions
- Recursion
- Equality semantics
Read the existing code, reproduce the reported behavior, review proposed changes, and verify your final implementation. You can use AI assistance while staying responsible for the result.
Prepare with a worked example
- How to review AI-generated code
A worked review of a cache patch: establish the contract, find a counterexample, verify the fix, and explain the evidence.
See how nrml evaluates an attempt, including the limits of automated evidence.