simplifylisted

# Code Simplification Cut complexity, preserve behaviour exactly. The goal is not fewer lines. It is code faster to read, change and debug. One test: **would a new team member understand this faster than the original?** **Use it when** the implementation is heavier than the problem, or review flags complexity. Use it when you meet deep nesting, long functions, unclear names, logic scattered across files, or duplication left by a merge. **Skip it when** you do not yet understand the code, or the module is about to be rewritten. Skip it too when the code is performance-critical and the simpler form is measurably slower. **"Already clean" is not on that list unless you can show it.** It holds only when nothing in the tables below fires. A nested ternary or a three-deep nest refutes it, so it never outranks *Be brave about size*. Skip any block with an explicit do-not-touch marker (`simplify-ignore`, `@preserve`, a comment naming a reason). Honour it and say you skipped it. ## The Five Principles **1. Preserve behavior exactly.** Inputs, outputs, side effects, error behaviour, ordering and edge cases stay identical. Unsure? Do not make the change. - **A test is the evidence, so the test decides.** A test that has to change for your simplification to pass means **you changed behaviour**. Revert. Editing the test destroys the only evidence you had. Nothing tested it? **A green suite proves nothing.** Before touching non-trivial logic with no coverage, write the smallest check