Spec-Deriving Algorithm.js

function Main() {
    Iterate {       
        IdentifyNextThread()
        For each Thread {
            
            PullThread()
            
        }
    }
}

function IdentifyNextThread() {
    Ask("Tell me THE MOST/NEXT important thing this product does?")
    
    For each Thread candidate {
        Ask("Is this a valuable feature? Is this a selling-point?")
        ApplySIRI()
        
        if  isValuable() or 
            isCoreFeature() 
        then 
            Capture(Thread)
    }
}

function PullThread(Thread) {
    IdentifyChallenges(Thread)
    For each Challenge {
    
        IdentifyBigPatterns(Challenge)
        For each Pattern {
        
            ExtractITDs(Pattern)
        
        }
    }
}

function IdentifyChallenges(Thread) {
    Challenges = Ask("What was hard about doing this thing? What problem were you trying to solve?")
    
    For each Challenge candidate {
        Ask("Why is this hard? Am I missing something?")
        ApplySIRI()
        
        if  isHard() and 
            isImportant() 
        then 
            Capture(Challenge)
    }
    
    return valid Challenges
}

function IdentifyBigPatterns(Challenge) {
    Patterns = Ask("What were the big patterns you used to solve that problem? Walk me through the flow.")
    
    For each Pattern candidate {
        Ask("Why did you use this pattern? How does it solve the problem?")
        ApplySIRI()
        
        if  isRealPattern() and 
            isRealSolutionToTheChallenge() 
        then 
            Capture(Pattern)
    }
    
    return valid Patterns
}

function ExtractITDs(Pattern) {
    Ask("What did you have to do to apply that pattern to your problem space?"
        "What important data-structures did you use?"
        "What core algorithms did you use?")
    AskCuriousQuestions()
    
    For each ITD candidate {
        ApplySIRI()
        
        if  isImportant() and 
            isTechnical() and 
            isRationalDecision() 
        then
            Capture(ITD)
        
        // Most valuable ITD types are:
        // - TechDiffs
        // - DataStructures and DataFlows
        // - Algorithms
    }
}

function ApplySIRI(Idea) {
    Iterate {
        Simplify(Idea)
        Internalize(Idea)
        Replay(Idea)
        
        if  isSimple(Idea) and
            isCorrect(Idea) and 
            isUnderstood(Idea) 
        then 
            break
    }
}

IdentifyThreads() function is missing. Is it Ask("Tell me THE MOST/NEXT important thing this product does?")?

Neat code. It looks pretty complete, simple and easy to understand.

Yes, your intuition about the IdentifyThreads() function is correct. I've adjusted it to reflect that.

I'd still like to add these though, but without adding complexity:

• AskCuriousQuestions() is something that could happen at almost any level (just like ApplySIRI), I need to reflect that.
• New threads can be identified along the way? How are those captured/pulled?

Thanks Marc!