GAS_TESTING_GUIDELINES.md

Gas Optimization Testing Guidelines

Objective: ensure PRs do not introduce significant cost regressions and follow best practices.

Unit Tests

• Cover all public entrypoints with valid and invalid inputs (fail fast saves gas).
• Include large-market tests (e.g., many voters) to catch algorithmic costs.

Snapshot-Based Validation

• For stable scenarios, snapshot CLI --cost outputs and diff on PRs.
• Store under test_snapshots/cost/ with scenario descriptions.

Lints and Review

• Review loops for storage/cross-contract calls per iteration.
• Check for repeated .get()/.set() rather than single read/single write patterns.
• Ensure strings/bytes sizes are validated.

PR Checklist (Gas)

• Storage ops minimized and batched
• No per-iteration storage writes in loops
• External calls minimized/batched
• Return/events payloads small
• Enforced input length caps

Optional Static Analysis

• Consider running a Soroban-focused analyzer to detect storage-in-loop and repeated indirect storage access patterns.