Fix unnecessary complexity in patch generation for lists of lists

[Copilot]

Problem

When inserting new elements into a list of lists, the JSON patch representation was unnecessarily complex. Instead of generating a simple add operation with the whole list element as the value, it was breaking down the change into multiple operations (replace and add operations for individual elements).

For example, given:

import jsonpatch
a = [[1,'a']]
b = [[2,'b'], [1,'a']]
print(jsonpatch.make_patch(a, b))

Version 1.16 produced a simple, intuitive patch:

[{"path": "/0", "value": [2, "b"], "op": "add"}]

But version 1.20 produced an unnecessarily complex patch:

[{"path": "/0/0", "value": 2, "op": "replace"}, {"path": "/0/1", "value": "b", "op": "replace"}, {"path": "/1", "value": [1, "a"], "op": "add"}]

Solution

Added special case handling in the _compare_lists method to detect when elements are being inserted at the beginning of a list. This ensures that when inserting list elements, the patch generator produces a cleaner, more intuitive patch representation.

The change makes the patch representation simpler while maintaining backward compatibility with all existing behavior.

Fixes #78.

---

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.