Add normative-conventions.md; document agreed-upon coercion rules

normative-conventions.md

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+# Normative conventions
+
+This document describes some of the conventions that we try to follow when designing new features. Sometimes old features don't follow these; that's ok, new features generally should anyway.
+
+None of these rules are inviolable, but you should have a good reason for any particular feature to deviate (for example, because the feature is a close cousin of an existing feature, like `findLastIndex` vs `findIndex`).
+
+This list is very far from being complete.
+
+## Avoid coercing arguments to types other than Boolean
+
+If an argument to a built-in function is expected to be of a particular type other than Boolean, the function should throw a `TypeError` if called with a value not of that type, rather than performing coercion. This also applies to values read from options bags.
+
+For example, if a function takes a string and is called with a Number or an object, it should throw a `TypeError` rather than attempting to coerce those values to strings. Similarly, if a function takes an object and is called with a string, it should throw rather than e.g. looking up properties on the string.
+
+NB: This convention is new as of 2024, and most earlier parts of the language do not follow it.
+
+## When required arguments are missing, throw
+
+In most cases, a built-in function being called with fewer arguments than expected is treated the same as being called with `undefined` for the remaining arguments. So per the above rule, when a built-in function is called with fewer arguments than expected it should throw a `TypeError` unless `undefined` is one of the types expected in that position. This also applies to values read from options bags.
+
+This does not apply when there is a default value for the argument in question, since in that case the argument is not required.
+
+NB: This convention is new as of 2024, and most earlier parts of the language do not follow it.
+
+## Number-taking inputs should reject `NaN`
+
+If an argument to a built-in function is expected to be a non-`NaN` Number (including as an option in an options bag), receiving `NaN` should cause a `RangeError` to be thrown.
+
+NB: This convention is new as of 2024, and most earlier parts of the language do not follow it.
+
+## Integral-Number-taking inputs should reject non-integral arguments
+
+If an argument to a built-in function is expected to be a Number (including as an option in an options bag), receiving a non-integral Number should cause a `RangeError` to be thrown.
+
+For the purposes of this guideline `-0` is considered to be an integral number (specifically, 0).
+
+Some APIs intentionally round non-integral inputs, for example as an attempt to provide a best-effort behavior, rather than because the API fundamentally only makes sense with integers. This guideline does not apply to those cases.
+
+NB: This convention is new as of 2024, and most earlier parts of the language do not follow it.