codegen: use command -v instead of fragile which + \$? pattern

[Devansh-567]

Description

Refactored codegen/compile_protos.sh to use command -v instead of the fragile which + $? pattern.

The previous implementation relied on checking $? immediately after a variable assignment (e.g., PROTOC="$(which protoc)"). While functional, this pattern is highly fragile as any commands accidentally inserted between the assignment and the if block would silently break the error handling. Additionally, command -v is the POSIX-compliant standard for binary verification, offering better portability than the external which command.

Changes

• Replaced which lookups with direct short-circuit evaluation (command -v ... || { ... }).
• Removed fragile $? status checks following variable assignments.
• Reduced overall line count while preserving identical functional behavior.

[chreekat]

I think someone could just as easily argue for the reverse patch (e.g. "an if statement is a better indication of intent and more robust to accidentally adding more binary operators").

There is no bug being fixed.

So, I don't think this change passes the high bar that should be put in front of any change. After all, every commit may introduce bugs, may accidentally change behavior, and complicates history.

[Devansh-567]

I think someone could just as easily argue for the reverse patch (e.g. "an if statement is a better indication of intent and more robust to accidentally adding more binary operators").

There is no bug being fixed.

So, I don't think this change passes the high bar that should be put in front of any change. After all, every commit may introduce bugs, may accidentally change behavior, and complicates history.

Fair, there's no active bug here, and I could have framed this better. The concrete motivation is that which isn't POSIX and its behavior/availability isn't guaranteed across environments the way command -v is; that's the main thing I'd want to fix vs. a style preference. If that's not enough of a bar for this repo, happy to close this, no strong objection either way. 😊

[chreekat]

I'd like to keep the if + $? check, but command -v instead of which would be fine :)

[chrispsommers]

LGTM