The amount of "defensively [do something]" and "best practices" is another way of saying "this format is so bad you need to thread carefully or else we'll blame

The amount of "defensively [do something]" and "best practices" is another way of saying "this format is so bad you need to thread carefully or else we'll blame it on you". Good format should not require defensive writing, and also "best practice" is a bit of misunderstanding: it's best practice to avoid such a bad format, not attempt to screw people into it and then blame them for not following some arbitrary set of rules.