---
id: history-code-exhibits
area: history
level: 3
title: "Artefact — Six code exhibits across five eras"
claim: "Six short excerpts spanning object-oriented ActionScript · a hand-written JavaScript animation engine · a PHP media pipeline · typed TypeScript · embedded C++ · and declarative Nix."
confidence: historic
period: "2006–2026"
tech: [ActionScript, JavaScript, PHP, TypeScript, C++, Nix]
metrics: [{label: "code exhibits", value: 6}, {label: "technology eras spanned", value: 5}]
artefacts: []
public: true
last_verified: 2026-10-26
tags: [history, code, exhibits, artefact]
---

# Artefact — Six code exhibits across five eras

**Status: stub.** The excerpts are selected from source that exists on disk; each one lands in Phase 7 with two sentences on why it is good code.

## The six

| # | Era | Source | What the excerpt shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Object-oriented ActionScript | the brief-case builder and the national beer campaign | class design, imports, encapsulation |
| 2 | Hand-written JavaScript engine | the text-effects engine from the site builder (about 2 200 lines) | easing and a timeline core |
| 3 | PHP media pipeline | the media encoder from the site builder (about 3 400 lines) | one encode operation and the FFmpeg piping around it |
| 4 | TypeScript | the vehicle-tracking application's schema and typed service layer | types, interfaces, a router |
| 5 | Embedded C++ | the Wi-Fi manager interface and implementation | interface versus implementation in firmware |
| 6 | Declarative infrastructure | the 25-line Nix package definition | pinned version, verified hash, written exit condition |

Total is roughly 225 lines across twenty years, which is the point: each excerpt is chosen to show judgement rather than volume.

## What it proves

That the stack changed six times and the discipline did not. Exhibit 6 is the least common of the six and the most current — a short, correct, self-documenting derivation with an exit plan is a stronger infrastructure signal than a long configuration file.

## When it is delivered

Phase 7. Source paths are recorded in the planning notes; nothing is published from a path that has not been read at capture time.