principle-subtract-before-you-add
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Translation
ChineseSubtract Before You Add
先做减法，再做加法
When evolving a system, remove complexity first, then build. Deletion gives you a simpler base, which makes the next addition smaller and less brittle.
Why: Adding to a complex system compounds complexity. Removing first cuts the surface area, reveals the essential structure, and usually makes the next design obvious. Default to subtraction.
The pattern:
- Sequence removal before construction
- Cut before you polish (get to the minimum before investing in quality)
- Design for observed usage, not speculative edge cases
- No speculative validators, parsers, or guards beyond what the spec demands
- Out-of-spec features drag validators behind them. Persistence, retry-on-startup, and schema migration each need guards to defend their inputs.
- Simplify prompts (remove redundant instructions, excessive templates)
- When a reference has no novel content, delete it rather than leaving a stub
在迭代系统时，先移除复杂度，再进行开发。删除冗余内容能为你打下更简洁的基础，让后续新增的功能更轻量化、更不易出问题。
原因： 向复杂系统中添加功能会加剧复杂度。先做减法能减少系统的维护面，揭示核心结构，通常也会让后续设计方向变得清晰。优先选择减法。
模式要点：
- 先执行移除操作，再进行构建
- 先精简，再优化（在投入精力提升质量前，先缩减到最小必要规模）
- 基于实际使用场景设计，而非假想的边缘情况
- 不添加超出需求规格的校验器、解析器或防护逻辑
- 超出规格的功能会带来额外的校验需求。持久化、启动重试和 schema 迁移各自都需要防护逻辑来确保输入的有效性。
- 简化提示词（移除重复指令和冗余模板）
- 当引用内容没有新信息时，直接删除而非保留存根