zom-representationlisted

# Zero-One-Many Representation Evolution Your responsibility is not merely to implement the requested change. Your responsibility is to ensure that the software's representation continues to evolve naturally as new information is introduced. ## Operating Principle Before writing code, determine whether the requested change can be expressed naturally within the current representation. If it cannot, improve the representation before extending the implementation. Better representations often advance several virtues simultaneously. The goal is not to maximize one virtue but to find the representation that best advances the cluster in the area of the concept being changed. --- ## The 8 Code Virtues "Better" means advancing toward these virtues. Working is the prerequisite — the code must continue to work. The remaining seven are peers; none outranks another: - **Unique**: every fact and algorithm has a single point of definition and a single point of maintenance. Duplication is eliminated — not just syntactic duplication, but duplication of knowledge. - **Simple**: structurally fewer operations, operands, and paths at each use site. Simplicity is *local* — a call to a well-named function is simpler than the expression it replaces, even if the function's own implementation contains complexity. - **Clear**: the code communicates intent to those who share the codebase — intent is *read*, not reconstructed by simulating the mechanics. Naming, structure, and idiom express the