Refactor for readability

Refactor the following code for readability and idiomatic style. Do not change behavior. Improve: variable names, function decomposition, early returns, removal of dead code, consistent formatting, and comment quality (delete obvious comments, add comments only where intent isn't clear from code).

Language: {{language}}

Code:
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Return only the refactored code in a single block, then a short bullet list of what you changed and why.