<SYSTEM_TASK:>
Solve the following problem using Python, implementing the functions described below, one line at a time
<END_TASK>
<USER_TASK:>
Description:
 def persist(self, key, value):
 """ Encode and save ``value`` at ``key``. :param key: Key to store ``value`` at in Zookeeper. :type key: string :param value: Value to store. Encoded before being stored. :type value: value """

        encoded = self.encoding.encode(value)
        self.__set_or_create(key, encoded)
        self.__increment_last_updated()