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Sarj Sarj Sarj Standards

stepdown

A private helper used by one caller should be defined below that caller.

SARJ023 Rule source Tests Catalog JSON

Why

Caller-first ordering keeps the module's public flow visible before its implementation details.

Fix

Move the private helper below its sole caller without changing either body.

Examples

Before — flagged Private helper appears before its sole caller
service.py
def _parse(payload: dict) -> dict:
    return payload




def handle(payload: dict) -> dict:
    return _parse(payload)
After — preferred Private helper appears after its sole caller
service.py
def handle(payload: dict) -> dict:
    return _parse(payload)




def _parse(payload: dict) -> dict:
    return payload