Use a Pipeline for Sequential Business Rules

Creating an order may require checks for the customer, inventory, address, and payment before completion. Placing every step in one function hides the sequence and makes the behavior harder to test and reuse.

In the Pipeline pattern, a value or context moves through a series of small stages. Each stage receives the context, performs one responsibility, then passes it forward or stops with a meaningful failure. The process becomes readable, and a stage can be added or replaced without editing one large block of logic.

Use the pattern when sequence is a clear part of the domain and the stages are reasonably independent. Do not turn every short function into a pipeline; its conceptual cost can exceed its value on simple paths. Define how side effects and transactions are handled so a failed stage cannot leave partial state behind.